title: Do Waiting Times in Dental Offices Affect Patient Satisfaction and Evaluations of Patient-Provider Relationships? A Quasi-experimental Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Spending time in waiting rooms prior to dental visits is not uncommon for dental hygiene patients. The objectives were to determine if the length of a patients' waiting time affected their satisfaction with the appointment and their evaluation of their provider. In addition, the patient's level of education and whether the dental visit is a first visit will be examined to determine if these affected the outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey data were collected from 399 adult patients who came for regularly scheduled visits to a dental school clinic. The patients ranged in age from 19 to 93 years (mean=52 years; SD=16.9). For 29% of the patients, this visit was the first visit with this provider.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients whose providers were early (n=65) were more satisfied, more likely to plan to follow their provider's recommendation and evaluated their relationship with their provider more positively than patients whose providers were on time (n=283), while the patients in the "late" group (n=32) showed the most negative responses to all questions. Patients from higher educational backgrounds were most negative in their responses when their providers were late. Patients with a first visit whose providers were late had the most negative evaluations of the patient-provider relationship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Long waiting times prior to a scheduled dental appointment have a negative effect on patients' satisfaction with their visit, the evaluations of the patient-provider relationship and the patients' intentions to return.
authors.forename: Marita Rohr
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Inglehart
authors.forename: Alexander H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kristin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Koltuniak
authors.forename: Taylor A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: Jenna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wheaton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003770:Dental Offices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017748:Time Management; D014850:Waiting Lists
keywords: dental hygienists; dentist-patient relationships; dentists; patient appointment; patient compliance; patient cooperation; patient satisfaction; patient schedule; patients