title: The dentist's attitudes and their interaction with patient involvement in oral hygiene compliance.
abstract: The influence on patient compliance of the dentist's attitudes to his or her job and to his or her patient was studied in a sample of 82 patients. The dentist's attitudes were assessed at the beginning of dental treatment. Treatment consisted of cleaning, depuration and motivation. At follow-up examination after six months, attendance at follow-up and the development of plaque, calculus and gingivitis were significantly predicted by the dentist's attitudes. A causal model, which also included factors of patient involvement, was developed. The compliance-producing factors were, primarily, the establishment of sympathy and an informal relationship between dentist and patient. The patient's habit of regularly making visits to a dentist, in a complex way, also contributed to compliance.
authors.affiliation: Stockholm County Council Institute of Psychotherapy, Sweden.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sandell
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Camner
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sarhed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D003815:Dentists; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011313:Preventive Dentistry