The patient‘s viewpoint to the aspects of communication with a dentist

Aim of the study. To evaluate patient's viewpoint about communicating with a dentist. Methods. The anonymous questionnaire survey was performed among 318 patients visiting their dentists in six private dental clinics and three public health care institutions. The questionnaire was used for the patient‘s interview. Two sets of questions, one part of the questionnaire allowed assessing patients' expectations and the second one – a general view of communication with a dentist, a medical institution and its staff. 5- point Likert scales were used for the evaluation of the examined characteristics. Statistical analysis was performed using the statistical software package SPSS 14.0. Results. The age mean of patients participated in the survey is 39,7±0,9. The majorities of patients has high education and are urban people. It is established that choosing the medical institution the most motivated reasons for the patients are related with doctor‘s personality and his competence. Least the choice is influenced by advertising. The most important aspects of communication, named by patients are - trusting in a dentist also a sufficient time and attention to the patient. However, there were set differences of the communication aspects, by patient’s viewpoint, in private and public medical institutions - private dental clinics patients were more satisfied with all aspects of communication. The most patients were disappointed with additional visuals measures disuse, during the visitation to their dentist. Conclusions. By patient’s identification, the most important aspect of communication is the opportunity to trust in their dentist. Patients communication with a dentist was evaluated partially positively both - private dental clinics and public health care institutions. It was found that patients' expectations during the visits in the dental clinics were justified. In addition, patients were satisfied with their communication with a dentist