Challenging encounters in clinical dentistry: a qualitative study investigating online reviews of patient satisfaction with Norwegian dentists

Abstract

Objective

Mapping key themes that characterize challenging and positive encounters in dental practice using online reviews of patient satisfaction.

Materials and methods

11,764 online patient reviews of dental encounters, consisting of an overall satisfaction rating (1–5 stars) and a free-text response, were collected from the web-site Legelisten.no. The reviews were split into two sets: reviews from patients with low satisfaction (1–2 stars) representing challenging encounters vs. patients with high satisfaction (4–5 stars) representing positive encounters. A qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyse the text materials in the datasets.

Results

Five key themes to both challenging and positive patient encounters were identified: (1) Interpersonal factors, (2) Patient factors, (3) Dentist factors, (4) Situational factors, and (5) Consequences. These themes are discussed in light of their role in challenging and positive patient encounters, as well as previous studies of online reviews and patient satisfaction.

Conclusions

Based on the patients’ experiences with dental encounters, challenging encounters seem to arise when dentists’ personality traits and communication skills fail to match the patients’ expectations or preferences. It appears central to patient satisfaction that dentists are able to shift between different communication styles in order to adapt to the personality and preferences of the patients.