Dental Care Satisfaction among Patients Attentding Health Care Facilities in Danbad City, Jharkhand State, India Kumar Gunjan1, Dileep C.L.2,* 1Senior Lecturer, Department of Preventive & Community, Dentistry Kalinga Institute of Dental Sciences, Bhubneshwar, India 2Professor & Head, Department of Preventive & Community Dentistry, Rama Dental College, Hospital & Research Center, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India *Email id: drgk1014@gmail.com
Online published on 29 November, 2012. Abstract The aim of the study was to assess the level of dental care satisfaction among patients attending health care facilities in Dhanbad city, Jharkhand State, India. The data for the study was collected through a questionnaire, which was distributed among 233 randomly selected subjects from dental care seekers attending health care facilities, who had undergone some kind of dental treatment earlier. The assessment of dental care satisfaction was made after analyzing the responses with respect to the various factors, viz., pain management, quality of care, availability, cost and access. The overall dental care satisfaction was 53.28% among the study group. The level of satisfaction corresponding to individual factors was: pain management (29.04%), quality of care (67.31%), availability (61.9%), cost (41.07%) and access (60.94%). It was hearty to note that 87.59% subjects ensured that the dentist held a valid degree before taking any treatment. It was surprising to note that only 5.57% of the subjects felt that there was further scope for improvement in the existing dental care services. A majority (81.13%) of the subjects were satisfied with the overall work of their dentist. Around 57.51% subjects skipped their dental appointments due to the fear of pain and around 40.77% subjects expressed that waiting for long hours at the dentist's office was bothersome. The study indicated that the population was less satisfied with regard to pain management and cost of treatment. However, a majority of the subjects were satisfied with the quality of dental care that they received. Top Keywords Dental care, Satisfaction, Questionnaire. Top |