Satisfaction with dental care among patients who receive invasive or non-invasive treatment for non-cavitated early dental caries: findings from one region of the National Dental PBRN

BMC Oral Health

Research Article

Ellen Funkhouser¹  Joseph L. Riley²  Valeria V. Gordan²  Sonia K. Makhija³  Gregg H. Gilbert³  Sonya T. Mitchell³  Mark S. Litaker³ 

[1] Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA;Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA;University of Alabama at Birmingham, SDB Room 609; Box 48, 1720 Second Avenue South, 35294-0007, Birmingham, AL, USA;

关键词: Patient satisfaction;    Practice-based research;    Dentistry;    Non-invasive treatment;    Invasive treatment;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12903-017-0363-8

 received in 2016-08-17, accepted in 2017-03-16,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe objectives were to: (1) quantify patient satisfaction with treatment for early dental caries overall, and according to whether or not (2a) the patient received invasive treatment; (2b) was high-risk for dental caries, and had dental insurance; and (3) encourage practitioners to begin using non-invasive approaches to early caries management.MethodsTen practitioners recorded patient, lesion, and treatment information about non-cavitated early caries lesions. Information on 276 consecutive patients with complete data was included, who received either non-invasive (no dental restoration) or invasive (dental restoration) treatment. Patients completed a patient satisfaction questionnaire and were classified as dissatisfied if they did not “agree” or “strongly agree” with any of 14 satisfaction items.ResultsPatients had a mean (± SD) age of 41.8 (±15.8) years, 64% were female and 88% were white. Twenty-five percent (n = 68) were dissatisfied in at least one of the 14 satisfaction items. Satisfaction levels did not significantly vary by patient’s gender, race, caries risk category, or affected tooth surface location. Overall, 11% (28 of 276) received invasive treatment; satisfaction did not differ between patients who had invasive or non-invasive treatment. Seven patients received invasive treatment at their request even though that was not what their practitioner recommended; 5 out of 6 were satisfied with their treatment nonetheless.ConclusionsAbout one-fourth of patients treated for non-cavitated early caries were dissatisfied with at least some aspect of their dental care experience. Satisfaction of patients who received invasive treatment did not differ from those who received non-invasive treatment.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017