What Factors Influence Patient Satisfaction in Restorative Dentistry

According to “The Dental Practice-Based Research Network” (GPBRN), five general factors that influence dental patient satisfaction include:

1.  Technical quality of care

2.  Interpersonal factors

3.  Convenience

4.  Financial issues

5.  Office environment

Patient Satisfaction can influence a “patient’s likelihood of choosing a dentist, making and keeping appointments, and complying with dentists’ recommendations” ^[1]. Satisfaction can be considered a combination of the dissonance between the patients’ expectations and their experiences. Therefore, patient satisfaction is an important part of dental care that has the potential to impact restorative dentistry treatment outcomes ^[1].

Higher ratings of patient satisfaction in restorative dentistry occurs in cases with more experienced dentists because of greater proficiency, when the defective restoration is repaired rather than replaced, when restorative materials are a natural tooth color material rather than amalgam, and when the tooth is a premolar or an anterior tooth.

Effectively communicating the patient’s treatment plan and paying attention to concerns they may have are the most prominent components when patients are judging a dentist’s skill and quality of care. Whether the dentist recognizes their patient’s pain, talks over their fears, and aids in conquering their fears are very significant in terms of patient satisfaction. Patients deduce dental expertise from the dentist’s capacity to manage discomfort and provide a dental visit free from negative experiences.

It is vital to include patients in treatment decisions on medications, restorative material options and dental prosthetic procedures. Dentist’s who educate and involve their patients in treatment decisions, provide adequate time to comprehend facts and have their questions satisfactorily answered are more likely to have higher rates of satisfaction among their patients. Patients who are given more preparatory information have much better control of postoperative discomfort because their dentist effectively communicated what they should expect in terms of pain and how to control the discomfort.

Indeed, patients tend to use non-technical aspects of dental visits to appraise dentists’ technical capabilities. A dentist’s skills and quality of care are partially based on personal interactions with the dentist, the patient’s level of comfort, and post-treatment sensitivity. Steps can be taken to improve patient satisfaction by changing office policies or procedures, patient education and involvement, and/or the dentist’s interpersonal methods.

Dental practitioners should remember that human and psychological aspects of care are essential factors in determining the quality of care provided.

About the Company:

Since 1991, Iverson Dental laboratory has provided dentists with high quality dental lab products and excellent dental lab services to ensure their dental patients are completely satisfied with the restoration outcome. Iverson dental labs strive to be a great dental resource for dentists by offering training on digital dentistry and new dental implant techniques at their high-tech on-site operatory and training facility. Iverson dental labs strongly believes in using high quality certified materials and authentic manufacturing components to fabricate their dental prosthetics. Iverson Labs also strongly believes in having a knowledgeable team of certified dental technicians because clinical evidence has shown the skills of the clinician and technician are important for the long-term success of a restoration.

Reference:

1. Riley, J., Gordan, V., Rindal, D., Fellows, J., Qvist, V., Patel, S., . . . Gilbert, G. (n.d.). Components of patient satisfaction with a dental restorative visit. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 1002-1010.