Caregiver Preferences of Greetings by Dental Staff

Purpose: To assess the attitudes and preferences of caregivers accompanying children to dental appointments toward greetings by dental staff.
Methods: English-speaking caregivers accompanying children to dental appointments completed a sex-specific survey consisting of 21 questions pertaining to the current visit, demographics, subject's relationship to the child, preference for greeting by providers, and previous uncomfortable experiences with greetings by providers.
Results: The sample included 238 subjects: 197 (82.8 percent) biological parents; 17 (7.1 percent) biological grandmothers/grandfathers; and 24 (10.0 percent) adults had a different relationship to the child. The single most preferred greeting was "mom" (70.0 percent) or "dad" (72.2 percent), with some variation in preferences among caregivers who were not biological parents. The second most preferred greeting was the first name for both males and females. African-American females preferred to be greeted by the first name compared to white females (P <.03). Older females preferred to be greeted by "grandma" compared to younger females (P <.01).
Conclusion: No single greeting was acceptable to all subjects. Using "mom" or "dad" was acceptable to most caregivers but not universally accepted. First name was acceptable to most, including caregivers who were not biological parents.