Preventive dental behavior in Israel: Some contrasts between a professional population and its clients

The dentist-patient relationship is examined in terms of the mutual expectations of both partners with reference to each other. The analysis focuses on preventive dental care. The design calls for a study of two populations in Israel: A sample of 2013 urban residents and a population of 522 dentists practicing in the same geographical areas. Contrasting the attitudes and behavior of the two groups on a number of parallel dimensions, it is found that dentists tend to overestimate their patients’ preventive dental behavior. Israeli dentists show a high level of self-satisfaction in the sphere of preventive care, and therefore may not be too prone to change their preventive care patterns.