Retail versus private dental practices: do the patients differ?

Using a consumer-oriented framework, the authors contrast private dental patrons and retail dental patrons in terms of demographic characteristics, choice criteria, and patronage behavior in selecting a dental care provider. Assessments are made of these consumers' attitudes and perceptions toward various dental practice attributes or characteristics. Differences are found across several attributes, but dimensions of quality service, reputation, and competence are not distinguishing characteristics between the two dental patron groups. These results provide some insights and interesting debate about the image and general marketing practice of private dentists and retail dental facilities.