ADULT PERCEPTIONS ABOUT COMMUNICATION WITH DENTISTS DURING THEIR DENTAL VISIT

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the adult perceptions about communication with their dentist visit through self-designed questionnaire and various sociodemographic profile influencing communication with dentist Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among 140 adults of Dharwad city using pre tested self-designed questionnaire in both Kannada and English language. Convenience method of sampling was incorporated and the subjects were asked to fill the questionnaire themselves. The response was collected and this data was subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS 21 version by means of descriptive statistics and chi square test. Findings were considered to be positive only if p value is <0.05. Results: 96%of subject visited dental college for treatment.89.2% of people felt that they understood the language spoken by the dentist.87.7% of subject felt dentist was emotional towards their complaints.90%of subject felt that dentist gave adequate time to listen to their health problem.50%of subject felt comfortable while communicating with the dentist of same gender. 95.7% felt that communication will be better with senior dentist rather than young dentist. Conclusions: Most of the subjects did not report any deficit in communication with the dentist during their visit. Oral health care professional should focus more on communication skills with patient who has economic problem and those who have dental fear or a problem-oriented visiting pattern.