A comparison of patient satisfaction among current and former dental school patients

Patient satisfaction is becoming an increasingly important indicator of quality dental care. However, most patient satisfaction surveys target only the current patients of the dental practice or institution, which may give an inflated estimate of satisfaction with care, since dissatisfied patients are likely to have left the practice or institution. The purpose of this study was to compare the satisfaction of three categories of dental school patients with several aspects of care received at the school. Data were collected using a telephone survey of 291 patients, systematically selected from the dental school's computer listings of all current, recall, and former patients. The survey instrument sought information about why respondents came to the school for dental treatment, why respondents who were no longer in treatment had dropped out of care, and respondents' opinions on eleven aspects of quality of care provided at the dental school. Dental students who had completed a training session served as interviewers. Results indicate that, overall, patient satisfaction with the care received was high, with none of the means for any category of patient falling into the dissatisfied range. Respondents who had dropped out of care were less satisfied than active or recall patients in five areas: quality of care, length and number of appointments, treatment explanation, and fees. Results have implications for dental school administrators and educators in their efforts to provide high quality patient care and to retain an adequate patient pool to ensure optimal clinical experiences for students.