Trust and Distrust in Dental Professionals: Patient Perceptions and Experiences
Trust is a dynamic component of the dentist-patient relationship that patients assess throughout their treatment-seeking process. Empathy and communication skills are modifiable attributes that dentists can develop to build their patients' trust. Dentists have less control over how patients perceive their competence. Patient trust in dentists fosters active engagement in treatment, while distrust can lead to switching dentists or avoiding treatment.
Authors
- Laura Dempster (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8471-5534)
- Joanna E. M. Sale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0389-3038)
- Sonica Singhal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9233-9348)
- Ken He
Institutions
- St. Michael's Hospital (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (CA)
- St Michael’s Hospital (IE)
- Public Health Ontario (CA)
- St Michael's Hospital (GB)
- Unity Health Toronto
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Dental Education
- Published
- 2025-08-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.70017
- Primary Topic
- Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- University of Toronto