Gürdal P.Çankaya H.Önem E.Dinçer S.Yilmaz T.2019-10-272019-10-2720000301-5661https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0528.2000.028006461.xhttps://hdl.handle.net/11454/23364Being service providers, dental professionals should satisfy their consumers/dental patients. This study investigates satisfaction with dental care among the patients of a dental faculty outpatient clinic of a major university in İzmir, Turkey. Method: The study was performed on 1001 patients of whom 674 filled out the questionnaire containing sociodemographic items and open-ended questions to determine the factors of (dis)satisfaction. The open-ended questions were content analyzed, and each patient was scored according to his comments: "complaining: (0)", "both praising and complaining: (1)", "no comment: (2)", and "praising: (3)". Each factor that has an impact on the decision of the study sample was determined by statistical analyses of data, using student t-test, chi-square test, and multiple regression analysis. Results: Most of the patients were highly educated (74.7%), had a high income (48.7%), and were young to middle-aged (73.1%). There was a well-balanced gender representation. The patient sample had sought care mostly for dental caries, periodontal diseases, problems with old restorations, and prosthetic rehabilitation. Of 1001 patients, 38.6% were satisfied with the dental care they received, 23.8% were both satisfied and dissatisfied, 5% were dissatisfied, and 32.7% failed to comment. No significant differences were observed between the satisfaction/dissatisfaction scores and sociodemographic variables of the patients in the groups (P>0.05). The most important components of satisfaction were found to be "relationship between dentists and patients" (P<0.001), "organized service system" (P<0.001), and "scientific ability of dental personnel" (P<0.001). The most prominent complaints were "long treatment span" (P<0.001), "disorganized service system" (P<0.001), and "slowness of radiographical examination procedures" (P<0.001). Conclusions: Despite the significant variations among the cultural and ethnic structures of different societies, personal interactions have priority in establishing satisfying dental service.en10.1034/j.1600-0528.2000.028006461.xinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessDentalDissatisfactionSatisfactionArticle28646146911106019Q1