Awareness of Effective Communication Skills Among Paediatric Dentists in Turkey

Effective communication with paediatric patients is one of the cornerstones of paediatric dentistry. Strong communication skills play a critical role in reducing dental anxiety, enhancing patient satisfaction, and facilitating the overall treatment process. This study aimed to assess the verbal and nonverbal communication skills of paediatric dentists working across Turkey and to explore variations based on demographic variables.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire completed by 331 actively practising paediatric dentists in Turkey. The questionnaire included items structured on a 5-point Likert scale designed to evaluate communication competencies. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean) were used to summarise the participants' responses, and comparative analyses were performed based on selected variables (eg, gender, years of professional experience, parenthood status). The Mann-Whitney U test was applied for comparisons between two groups when parametric test assumptions were not met. Furthermore, questionnaire items were grouped under specific sub-dimensions of communication and presented thematically. A significance level of P 0.05 was adopted.

Overall, participants reported a high level of perceived self-efficacy regarding their communication skills. Communication scores of faculty members and private practitioners were significantly higher than those of research assistants (P 0.001). A significant positive correlation was found between years of clinical experience and communication competencies (P 0.01). Notably, younger clinicians scored lower in subdomains such as the use of 'I-messages' and democratic guidance.

While the communication skills of paediatric dentists appear to be generally strong, younger clinicians may require further support in developing certain experience-based communication strategies. These findings highlight the need to integrate structured and practice-oriented communication training into both undergraduate and postgraduate dental education.