title: Expectations and satisfaction with care for periodontal specialist patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate expectations on and satisfaction with treatment among patients referred for comprehensive treatment to specialist clinics in periodontology and to explore factors associated with satisfaction in regression analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients referred for comprehensive periodontal treatment were sampled for the study. The study was based on a questionnaire in a before-and-after design. The first questionnaire was sent to the patients before their first appointment at the specialist clinic. The second questionnaire was sent after ≈ 6 months. Three questions were used to measure expectations and four questions to measure satisfaction. The first questionnaire was sent to 273 patients with a response rate of 31% and the second questionnaire was sent to 85 patients with a response rate of 73%. In non-response analysis, no difference between respondents and non-respondents were detected as to age and gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Many of the patients viewed it as important or very important to have healthy teeth (98%) and improved well-being (93%) after periodontal treatment. More than 50% of the patients were satisfied with the relation to the caregiver. When measuring the satisfaction in general, 42% indicated the highest score on the summarized Dental Visit Satisfaction Scale. Having confidence (p ≤ 0.001) and a good relation (p = 0.001) to the caregiver indicated higher satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Having a good relation to the caregiver and having confidence in the caregiver seems to indicate satisfied patients receiving periodontal treatment at periodontal clinics.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Society, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden. carina.martensson@hkr.se
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mårtensson
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Söderfeldt
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Axtelius
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Andersson
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires