Title
Patient expectations and treatment outcomes in dentistry: A questionnaire-based study
Authors
Qalbi Fatima, Pallavi Priya, Md Imran, Vaibhava Raaj, Subhash Kumar* & Abhishek Sinha
Affiliation
Department of Dentistry, Patna Medical College & Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India; *Corresponding author
Qalbi Fatima - E-mail: qalbifatima@gmail.com
Pallavi Priya - E-mail: pallavipriya1905@gmail.com
Md Imran - E-mail: drimran100009@gmail.com
Vaibhava Raaj - E-mail: raajvaibhava@gmail.com
Subhash Kumar - E-mail: dr.subhash.mds@gmail.com
Abhishek Sinha - E-mail: drsinhaabhii@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received May 1, 2026; Revised May 31, 2026; Accepted May 31, 2026, Published May 31, 2026
Abstract
Mismatch between patient expectations and perceived treatment outcomes remain a significant challenge affecting satisfaction and service utilization in government dental healthcare settings. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate patient expectations before treatment and corresponding perceived outcomes after treatment at a government dental facility. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among 400 patients using validated Likert-scale instruments assessing domains such as pain management, functional restoration, esthetics, communication and facility experience. While pain management showed the highest expectation and satisfactory outcomes, significant gaps were observed in facility experience and waiting time, with only 43.5% of patients reporting outcomes meeting or exceeding expectations. Thus, we show the need to improve non-clinical service aspects alongside clinical care to enhance overall patient satisfaction and healthcare delivery.
Keywords
Dental treatment, government hospital, patient satisfaction, patient expectations, treatment outcomes
Citation
Fatima et al. Bioinformation 22(5): 2771-2778 (2026)
Edited by
Hiroj Bagde
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
