Beyond service quality: patient-perceived trust and revisit intention toward private dental clinics

This study investigates factors shaping patients' intentions to return to private dental clinics, drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and incorporating relational influences that reflect organisational aspects of healthcare delivery.

Survey data were collected from individuals who had previously utilised private dental services in Malaysia. Responses from 188 participants were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate hypothesised direct relationships, indirect pathways, and interaction effects.

The analysis indicates that attitude, subjective norms, and patient-perceived trust are significant predictors of revisit intention toward private dental clinics, with trust exerting the strongest influence. Patient satisfaction affects revisit intention indirectly through attitude, while no significant indirect effects are observed for service quality or word-of-mouth. In addition, perceived behavioural control does not significantly condition the effects of attitude or subjective norms on revisit intention.

The findings indicate that revisit intention toward private dental clinics is explained not only by individual cognition but also by patient-perceived trust in the clinic as a service organisation. Conceptualising trust at the patient-perception level highlights how perceived reliability, integrity, and continuity of clinic processes can become salient in repeat-care settings and may outweigh purely functional service attributes when patients consider returning to a private dental clinic.

Healthcare managers should prioritise organisational processes that foster trust, including consistent clinical practices, transparent communication, and continuity of care, rather than relying solely on service quality enhancements or promotional strategies.

This study contributes by clarifying when and why patient-perceived trust becomes more influential than service quality in shaping revisit intention toward private dental clinics. Rather than claiming a wholly novel TPB extension, the study offers a contextually grounded refinement of behavioural intention logic in repeat-care settings, highlighting the comparative importance of relational confidence in the clinic's care delivery.