What do patients take into account when they choose their dentist? Implications for quality improvement

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-demographic description of participants

Characteristic	N (%)
Sex (N=724)
Male	271 (37.73)
Female	453 (62.57)
Residence area (N=724)
Urban	522 (72.10)
Rural	202 (27.90)
Age (mean ± SD; N=724)	46.56±17.11
Age (N=724) (years)
18–29	153 (21.13)
30–44	176 (24.31)
45–59	208 (28.73)
60+	187 (25.83)
Highest education level attained (N=724)
Primary education	66 (9.12)
Medium	446 (61.60)
Higher education	212 (29.28)
Existence of a dentist who is regularly visited (N=724)
Yes	566 (78.18)
No	158 (21.82)
Usual frequency of dental care visits (N=718)
Once every 4 months	91 (12.67)
Once every 6 months	177 (24.66)
Once a year	195 (27.16)
At an interval >1 year	55 (7.66)
Only when I have tooth ache	200 (27.85)
At the end of the dental visit, have you been asked by the dentist whether you have been satisfied with your visit?
Yes	428 (59.12)
No	287 (39.64)
I do not remember	9 (1.24)
At your last dental visit, did you go to a public or private facility?
Private	618 (85.36)
Public	94 (12.98)
I do not remember	12 (1.66)

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 The distribution of respondents’ visit to the dentist according to respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics

Socio-demographic characteristic	Frequency of visits to the dentist’s office
	Once every 4 months	Once every 6 months	Once a year	At an interval >1 year	Only when I have tooth ache	χ^2	P-value
	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)
Sex
Male	39 (42.86)	63 (35.60)	68 (34.87)	25 (45.45)	72 (36)	5.82	0.324
Female	52 (57.14)	114 (64.40)	127 (65.13)	30 (54.55)	128 (64)
Total	91	177	195	55	200
Age (years)
18–29	25 (27.47)	51 (28.81)	36 (18.46)	7 (12.73)	33 (16.5)	32.05	0.006
30–44	28 (30.77)	49 (27.68)	47 (24.10)	12 (21.82)	40 (20)
45–59	23 (25.27)	37 (20.90)	64 (32.82)	19 (34.54)	62 (31)
Older than 60	15 (16.49)	40 (22.61)	48 (24.62)	17 (30.91)	65 (32.5)
Total	91	177	195	55	200
Residence area type
Urban	73 (80.22)	143 (80.79)	140 (71.79)	35 (63.64)	129 (64.5)	21.82	0.001
Rural	18 (19.78)	34 (19.21)	55 (28.21)	20 (36.36)	71 (35.5)
Total	91	177	195	55	200
Education
Primary education	4 (4.40)	12 (6.78)	20 (10.25)	8 (14.54)	22 (11)	34.59	<0.001
Medium	57 (62.63)	89 (50.28)	121 (62.05)	34 (61.82)	139 (69.5)
Higher education	30 (32.97)	76 (42.94)	54 (27.70)	13 (23.64)	39 (19.50)
Total	91	177	195	55	200

Table 3 The factor that was most important in choosing a dentist (N=720)

Factor	N (%)
Dentist’s competence	160 (22.22)
Recommendation made by someone I know	148 (20.56)
Overall quality of the service provided	142 (19.72)
Dentist’s patience	68 (9.44)
Distance from home to dental office	62 (8.61)
Dentist’s respect for patients	46 (6.39)
The quality of equipment in the dentist’s office	34 (4.73)
Dentist’s notoriety	32 (4.44)
The degree to which schedules are respected	13 (1.80)
Overall aspect of the dentist’s office	11 (1.53)
Other (unspecified)	4 (5.56)

Table 4 Participants’ satisfaction with the dental services received

Service characteristic	Very low	Low	Medium	High	Very high
Overall satisfaction (N=724)
N (%)	11 (1.52)	10 (1.38)	10 (1.38)	71 (9.81)	622 (85.91)
More information expected (N=714*)
N (%)	328 (4.59)	59 (8.26)	41 (5.74)	88 (12.32)	198 (27.73)
Thorough explanations received from dentist (N=723**)
N (%)	27 (3.73)	19 (2.62)	17 (2.35)	68 (9.41)	592 (81.89)
Communication with the dentist was easy (N=724)
N (%)	2 (0.28)	2 (0.28)	2 (0.28)	38 (5.25)	680 (93.92)

Notes:

* Missing ten cases.

** Missing one case.