Abstract

Background and Aim: The quality of services provided by a dental specialist is a major concerned. The level of anxiety and stress among dental specialists has increased due to patients complaint. The purpose of this research is to measure the overall patients’ satisfaction with the quality of dental services provided at Eastern Province Military Hospitals, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: The researcher has conducted a cross-sectional analytical study at dental clinics of three military hospitals. A stratified random sampling technique was employed in the data collection from pre-tested questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were followed by inferential statistics. Chi-square test and Fischer’s exact test were also used to assess the male and female satisfaction levels.

Results: The number of participants in this study was 247 patients, in which 69.6% were female and 30.4% were male. The factors associated with patient satisfaction disclosed a mean percentage of 71.0% SD ± 14.31, for the four domains of satisfaction indicate an average level of satisfaction. The results also show a significant difference in male and female patients’satisfaction in specific areas such as asking personal questions during the visit, or prolonged waiting time for appointments and maintaining confidentiality (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Patient-dentist interaction and system/ administrative efficiency are the factors that have the most significant effect on patients’ satisfaction at these three sites. It is recommended that hospital administration arranges awareness sessions to enlighten dental service providers about professional conduct, sessions on how to avoid long waiting periods for dental appointments, and on how evening or weekend clinics
could accommodate more patients.

Key words: Military Hospital, Dental services, Satisfaction, Saudi Arabia