Survey of patient satisfaction at the Yad Sarah Geriatric Dental Clinic

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of a supporting professional environment, in a voluntary dental clinic, on the satisfaction among dental patients. METHODS: A sample of 109 patients who received dental care between 3/01-3/02 at the Yad Sarah dental clinic in Jerusalem were asked about : their satisfaction concerning their experience of previous visits, the frequency of their visits, how they heard about the clinic and whether they would return to the clinic in the future. RESULTS: On average, each patient visited the clinic three times. 36.7% of the patients heard about the clinic from friends or family. Most of the patients were highly satisfied (47.2%) or satisfied (36.1%) with the clinic. The two best predictors of patient satisfaction (total 83.2%) were the professionalism of the dentists (41.4%) and the good attitude of the dentists to them. On the other hand, the two best predictors of patient non-satisfaction (14%) were the low professionalism of the dentists (33.3%) and the price of the treatments at the clinic (33.3%). 89% said they would return to the clinic and 93% said they would recommend that other patients use the services of Yad Sarah dental clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the patients who were treated at the Yad Sarah dental clinic expressed high levels of satisfaction with the care they received. The professionalism and the attitude of the staff were the main contributors to the high level of satisfaction with the Yad Sarah dental clinic.