PATIENTS' SATISFACTION WITH DENTAL CARE (ON THE RESULTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH)

The aim: To determine the level of patients' satisfaction with the received dental care in regional dental clinic and to make proposals for improving the quality of dental care based on the survey results.

Materials and methods: 221 copies of the questionnaires completed by the respondents; sociological method (questionnaire), medical-statistical, analysis and bibliosemantic methods were used.

Results: Patients expressed high satisfaction with the quality of dental care according to the criteria of geographical accessibility (4.28 ± 0.05 points), the conditions in the doctor's office (4.63 ± 0.04 points), safety of dental interventions (4.54 ± 0.04 points) and their effectiveness (4.58 ± 0.04 points), the attitude of the doctor to the patient (4.75 ± 0.03 points), the clarity of information for the patient (4.52 ± 0.04 points). However, the satisfaction of patients with the cost of dental services was only 3.76 ± 0.05 points.

Conclusions: Patients' satisfaction with the financial accessibility of dental care was found to be lower compared to satisfaction with other healthcare quality components. This information can be used to make management decisions on revising the coverage of the cost of dental services from the state budget and other sources of funding.