Satisfaction level among patients visiting a rural dental institution toward rendered dental treatment in Haryana, North India.

BACKGROUND: To provide quality care to the patient's perspective and patient satisfaction are two major multidimensional concepts. In India, patient satisfaction with dental services has received only minor attention as the importance of the teeth is always neglected.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the satisfaction level among patients toward dental treatment rendered at an academic institution.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 474 voluntary camp patients visiting Department of Public Health Dentistry, Swami Devi Dyal Hospital and Dental College, Barwala, using a 14-item closed ended questionnaire which included demographic details, attitude, and practices of the participants and their satisfaction level to the treatment rendered to them was graded as highly satisfied, satisfied, and not satisfied. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 18 which covered both descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS: Curative and preventive treatment was mostly required in younger age groups whereas extraction and prosthetic rehabilitation were found to be present in older age groups. Lack of education and awareness was the most common reason behind not seeking treatment. Majority of the participants were satisfied with the treatment rendered and were found to be statistically significant with visiting and referrals ( P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: Imparting proper and appropriate information regarding the dental treatment will definitely change the attitude of the patients, thus help in raising the satisfaction levels.