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Caregivers’ Satisfaction with Pediatric Dental Care in a University Clinical Setting in North Philadelphia
Author(s) -
Tellez Marisol,
Kaur Sundeep
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.2013.77.11.tb05628.x
Subject(s) - feeling , family medicine , dental care , demographics , medicine , stratified sampling , dental clinic , psychology , demography , social psychology , pathology , sociology
The aims of this study were twofold: to describe different aspects of caregiver satisfaction with pediatric dental treatment provided at a dental school clinic and to explore differences in satisfaction by caregivers’ demographics and compliance with their children's appointments. A cross–sectional study was conducted in two phases. In Phase I, a convenience sample of caregivers (n=100) eighteen years of age and older whose children had been receiving dental care in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were invited to complete a self–administered dental satisfaction questionnaire. In Phase II, sociodemographic data and the child's reason for visit were extracted from axiUm. Descriptive analyses stratified by sociodemographic variables were conducted. Results indicated that almost half of the caregivers reported feeling concerned about pain at the dental office. Those with the lowest levels of education and income reported feeling the most concern about pain at the dental office, as well as sometimes avoiding bringing their child to the dentist because of their fear of pain and not complying with scheduled dental appointments for the child. Operational aspects related to access and motivational aspects such as fear of pain when seeking dental treatment were identified as barriers to treatment.