33 - Guardians’ reports of their children’s dental care experiences in a diverse hospital based pediatric dental clinic

Abstract: Title: Guardians’ reports of their children’s dental care experiences in a diverse hospital based pediatric dental clinic

Short Title: Dental Experiences of Children

Key words: Pediatric dentistry, diversity, quality improvement, parents, dental team, dentist, race, ethnicity, age, child, children

Abstract:

Purpose: To understand the role and value of diverse providers in clinical settings for children being treated in a hospital based dental clinic and its relation to guardian satisfaction

Methods: Patient data, including age, language preference, guardian reported race/ethnicity, and reason for dental visit, was extracted from individual charts before their upcoming scheduled appointment. A parent survey accompanied the chart review. Descriptive statistics were completed.

Results: One hundred two respondents completed the survey. No racial differences were observed in perception of safety, feeling welcomed, or the belief that diverse providers and team members improve quality of care (all p >0.05).

Feeling welcomed was strongly associated with perceived safety of the clinical environment (p < 0.001). Neither appointment type nor child age showed associations with feeling welcomed, perceived safety, likelihood to recommend the clinic, or whether parents felt listened to (all p >0.05).

Higher overall satisfaction scores combining perceptions of welcome, listening, openness, and safety were significantly associated with increased likelihood of recommending the clinic (p=0.020). Parents who rated diversity as very important were also more likely to recommend the clinic (p=0.003). No associations were observed between appointment type and safety, or between diversity importance and feeling welcomed or emergency versus recall visits (all p >0.05).

Conclusion: Perceived welcoming and safety were strongly interconnected. Higher overall satisfaction and stronger valuing of diverse clinical environments were both associated with an increased likelihood of recommending the clinic.

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