Patient satisfaction and assessment of reason for seeking root canal treatment in a cost-free hospital setup

Abstract

Aims: Patient's awareness and knowledge of the treatment is highly essential in everyday dental practice as it significantly influences the treatment outcome. Hence, the objective of this study is to assess the patient's satisfaction with root canal treatment (RCT) under various aspects. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 130 patients in a tertiary care setting using a questionnaire which included pain perceived during the treatment, duration of treatment, esthetics and chewing ability of treated tooth, pleasantness of treatment, and the overall satisfaction. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. Statistical Analysis Used: Scores were compared using Kruskal–Wallis test. Results: The level of significance was set at 0.05. Median scores did not show a statistical difference in criteria scores between the teeth (P > 0.05). Among 130 patients, 81 preferred to undergo treatment in our institution due to the superior quality of treatment provided. Seventeen patients felt that the treatment provided was compromised. Of these 17 patients, nine patients reasoned it toward low standards due to cost-free treatment and eight patients felt that it was due to negligence or incompetency of the clinician. Conclusions: Pleasantness and satisfaction from treatment are very high due to a decrease in pain post-RCT, and most of them did not feel that the treatment was compromised in terms of quality or clinicians' negligence or incompetency.

Keywords

• attitude
• awareness
• dental treatment
• satisfaction