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 subjects did not deficit in communication with dentist during their visit. Oral health care professional should focus on skills with who has economic problem and those who have dental fear or a problem-oriented visiting pattern.


ISSN: 2320-5407
Int. J. Adv. Res. 9(01), 1188-1194 1189 A few investigations have indicated that patients appreciate that the dental specialist imparts and talks about their oral wellbeing status and treatment options. [1][2][3] Moreover, it is additionally significant that the patient feels that their dental specialist tunes in to them and shows comprehension and regard with respect to their perspectives and concerns. [1,2,[4][5][6][7][8]Dutch emergency oral Health care patients in a study by Schouten et al showed that patient satisfaction was greatly determined by dentist communicative behaviour; however, dentists' communicative behaviour was only moderate. [9] Furthermore, using comprehensive communication assessment tool, Waylen et al indicated that patients in an English college encouraging centre were by and large exceptionally happy with correspondence with their dental specialist, for example 77% of members felt that the dental specialist gave them attention(looked at, and carefully listened to) amazingly. Patients were least happy with occasions to pose inquiries and with their degree of inclusion in treatment decision-making, for instance 64% of members felt that they were superbly engaged with decision-making during visit[10].
Subsequently it tends to be said that reviews infer that most patients are happy with communication with the dental specialist or other oral Health care experts. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].However studies on adult perception about communication with dentists during their dental visit is limited in Karnataka and as such no study being attempted in Dharwad ,so information from study will help in improving Dentist patient relationship to take suitable measures to improve overall doctor patient relation which can benefits in providing good oral health care for the patients and improved patient satisfaction. Thus this study aimed to know the adults perception on communication with the dentists, which may provide an insight into the various influencing factors and this may help to take suitable measures to improve the doctor patient relation which can help in providing good oral health care for the patients.

Study design and population;
This was a cross sectional study conducted among Adult patient of age group 18-60yrs visiting private dental college in north Karnataka. It was conducted for the period of 3 month from September 2020 to November2020

Inclusion and exclusion criteria:
All the adult patient who visit and willing to participate were considered in the inclusion criteria while the patient The patient who were not willing to participate and who did not give consent to participate in the study were kept in the exclusion criteria.

Ethical approval and informed consent:
The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board and ethical approval was obtained (IRB.No.2020/P/COMM/59). A written informed consent form was also obtained from all the participants Sample size: A pilot study was conducted similar to main study. It was done for the period of four week .The results of pilot study were to use for the sample size determination and check the validity of questionnaire. The result of pilot study had helped in proper planning and execution of main study

Determining Sample size:
The following formula was used for determining the sample size of the number of adult people to be taken into the study: A total of 140 subjects of aged group between 18-60 years were included in the study.

1190
Sampling technique: Patient were randomly selected through convenient sampling till the desired sample size was achieved.

Questionnaire:
Self-administrated Questionnaire was prepared in kannada and English language and it was was divided into two part. First part consist of socio-demographic factor like name, age, gender, occupation,education,maritial status and annual income. Kuppuswamy 2019 was used for determining educational level, occupation and annual income. Second part consists of 19 questions related to adult perception about communication with dentists during their dental visit. All the subjects were interviewed by a two trained interviewer using a validated structure questionnaire. Study includes only those subjects who match with above inclusion criteria and has given informed consent for participation in study. Face to face interview was conducted by the examiner and information was entered in the Performa. On an average per day 20 subjects were examined by the investigator The time taken for each pat ient was on an average was 5-10minute Same procedure was conducted for a period of given time till the desired sample size was achieved. The collected information was then subjected to appropriate statistical analysis

Statistical Analysis
The collected data was entered into SPSS 21.0 version and then subjected to statically analysis using descriptive static.

Result:-
Out of 140 study subject 59% were male while 41% were female. Majority of them were graduate holder working in shop and farm .Most of the subjects were married [ Table 1] The result had shown that shows the response of study subject with yes no with particular statement from question aire.71% have told that they scared of dental treatment. 62.80% had told that it was their first visit to dental college. 97.10% had told that they understood the language spoken by dentist.98.57% had told that their dentist had explained about their problem before starting the treatment.97.86% had told yes that their dentist explained about the different treatment modalities about the particular problem.98.57% had told yes that their dentist had explained  Graph-2 had shown the result for" did you feel feel like communicating better with young or senior dentist" Majority of them from both the gender had preferred senior dentist for communication.
The result of the data had not shown any statistical association with any of the independent variable.
Graph-1:-Response for getting confidence over the dentist based on their body physique with respect to gender.
Graph-2:-Response for communicating better with senior ,junior or both with respect to gender.

Discussion:-
Communication is one of the key concepts in success or failure of oral health treatment . This research indicated that in Dharwad,dentist practiced significantly most of the behaviours that is essential in the interaction with patients as an ideal dentist . It seems that patients' main concern was the courtesy and this was a key factor to increase their satisfaction. It increased satisfaction about both the dentist interaction and treatment rendered. Similarly, evaluating 1193 dental care of the patients increased their satisfaction. This is was of special interest among young age males. In the literature, that behavioural aspect was rated as one of the first five traits in the ideal dentist [14,15].Most adult patients felt that, they were feared of dental treatment(70.7%). This was in consideration with the study done by Masoud Saatchi in Iran were majority had presented dental anxiety during treatment. [16]It might be because most of the dental procedure use Local anaesthesia ,and syringe could be the major factor for fear. Another possible reason could be fear of cavity cutting bur or sound of aerator which make patient feared of treatment. 99.2% felt that doctor was cooperative during first visit.97.1% understand the language spoken by dentist , similar findings were seen in a study conducted by Eero Raittio et al, 2018 among Finland adults where 91% of the people felt that doctor was cooperative and understandable . [17] In our study 98.5 %felt that dentist explained their problem before starting the procedure. This was in consideration with the study done by Azizah AL-Mobeeriek ,2012 in Saudi Arabia where majority of the people felt that dentist explained before starting the procedure of the treatment .Here in this study92% felt that good communication has made him to revisit again to the same dentist for future oral problem . It might be because Dentist-patient communication is an important issue. It has its role in patients' satisfaction and treatment success Giving moral support, appreciating patients feeling and explaining the procedure were also positively linked to patient satisfaction which make patient to trust their dentist for their oral problem .the study had shown highly positive result .It might be because here in Dharwad dental college, dentist give adequate time to their patient in explaining the procedure and respect patient feeling.
There are several limitation to study as Sample size is small and as it is hospital based study the results can not be generalized to other location. This study is not representative of all age group (children and adolescent) as only adults were included in the study. Another limitation is that this present study is cross-sectional in nature, and so further longitudinal studies may be necessary to establish relationship of socio demographic factor and perception about communication with dentist.
There is as no such focused training on communication skills at under graduate level. Communication at the emotional plane will further improve the treatment outcomes. Good communication helps in patients autonomy in choosing the feasible dental care. Every dentist should apply the communication skill with their patient and this can minimize the discrepancies in oral health care

Conclusion:-
Most of the subjects did not report any deficit in communication with the dentist during their visit. Majority of the males were satisfied with senior dentists and dentists with good attire.Dentists should focus and engage in positive relationships with their patients by providing useful and comprehensive information regarding their dental issues and treatment plan