Factors of patient satisfaction/dissatisfaction in a dental faculty outpatient clinic in Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
Being service providers, dental professionals should satisfy their consumers/dental patients. This study investigates satisfaction with dental care among the patients of a dental faculty outpatient clinic of a major university in Izmir, Turkey.


METHODS
The study was performed on 1001 patients of whom 674 filled out the questionnaire containing sociodemographic items and open-ended questions to determine the factors of (dis)satisfaction. The open-ended questions were content analyzed, and each patient was scored according to his comments: "complaining: (0)", "both praising and complaining: (1)", "no comment: (2)", and "praising: (3)". Each factor that has an impact on the decision of the study sample was determined by statistical analyses of data, using student t-test, chi-square test, and multiple regression analysis.


RESULTS
Most of the patients were highly educated (74.7%), had a high income (48.7%), and were young to middle-aged (73.1%). There was a well-balanced gender representation. The patient sample had sought care mostly for dental caries, periodontal diseases, problems with old restorations, and prosthetic rehabilitation. Of 1,001 patients, 38.6% were satisfied with the dental care they received, 23.8% were both satisfied and dissatisfied, 5% were dissatisfied, and 32.7% failed to comment. No significant differences were observed between the satisfaction/dissatisfaction scores and sociodemographic variables of the patients in the groups (P>0.05). The most important components of satisfaction were found to be "relationship between dentists and patients" (P<0.001), "organized service system" (P<0.001), and "scientific ability of dental personnel" (P<0.001). The most prominent complaints were "long treatment span" (P<0.001), "disorganized service system" (P<0.001), and "slowness of radiographical examination procedures" (P<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the significant variations among the cultural and ethnic structures of different societies, personal interactions have priority in establishing satisfying dental service.
Gürdal
P
P
Ege University School of Dentistry, Department of Oral Diagnosis & Radiology, Izmir, Turkey. guerdal@dishekimligi.ege.edu.tr
Cankaya
H
H
Onem
E
E
Dinçer
S
S
Yílmaz
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003729:Dental Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy; D017266:Dental Prosthesis; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D011861:Radiography, Dental; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012575:Schools, Dental; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014421:Turkey