title: Do people trust dentists? Development of the Dentist Trust Scale.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to adapt a measure of trust in physicians to trust in dentists and to assess the reliability and validity of the measure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire data were collected from a simple random sample of 596 Australian adults. The 11-item General Trust in Physicians Scale was modified to apply to dentists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Dentist Trust Scale (DTS) had good internal consistency (α = 0.92) and exploratory factor analysis revealed a single-factor solution. Lower DTS scores were associated with less trust in the dentist last visited, having previously changed dentists due to unhappiness with the care received, currently having dental pain, usual visiting frequency, dental avoidance, and with past experiences of discomfort, gagging, fainting, embarrassment and personal problems with the dentist.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of people appear to exhibit trust in dentists. The DTS shows promising reliability and validity evidence.
authors.affiliation: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, Adelaide Dental School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: J M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7962-7559
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Armfield
authors.affiliation: Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ketting
authors.affiliation: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, Adelaide Dental School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chrisopoulos
authors.affiliation: Unit of Dental Public Health, School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D003729:Dental Care; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D003815:Dentists; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D011639:Public Opinion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dental experiences; dental visiting; dentist trust; scale development; validity