Evaluating the Trust relationship between Dentists and Patients in a Dental College, Salem – A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Trust is the foundation for a successful human relationship. For a successful dentist patient relationship, a higher level of trust exhibited by the patients plays a major role in the success of the treatment and greater satisfaction in patient dental experience. Aim: To assess the dentist patient trust relationship among the outpatient patients visiting a dental college, Salem, India. Objectives: To collect the demographic profile and to assess the factors affecting the dentist–patient trust relationship, using the pretested and validated 11 item Dentist Trust Scale (DTS) questionnaire. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive questionnaire study was carried out, among the patients visiting the outpatient department of a dental college in Salem, India, with total sample size of 519. Inclusion Criteria: Male and female aged 18 years and above who have visited the dentist at least, once during the past 3 years and willing to participate in the study were included in the study. Exclusion Criteria: Study participants <18 years, who have never visited the dentists and not willing to participate in the study were excluded from the study. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20. Results: The study shows, 82.7% of the participants did not change their dentists for their treatments and 7.1% of participants, changed their dentist due to less access to the dentists. In summary, majority (405 [78.0%]) of participants shows high level of trust on dentists. Conclusion: The present study shows, the level of trust on dentists is high and satisfactory, however, further care has to be taken for the promotion and building up the trust on dentists.