Comparison between patient expectation before and satisfaction after periodontal surgical treatment

Background: The purposes of this study were to compare patient expectation before periodontal surgical treatment with their level of satisfaction afterward on the basis of a self-reported questionnaire, and to analyze the relationship between various satisfaction factors and periodontal surgical treatment. Methods: Information was obtained from 33 patients initially diagnosed with chronic periodontitis. The survey was completed twice by each patient, once before and once after modified Widman flap surgery. Results: The satisfaction scores of items related to patient expectation of treatment outcome decreased significantly following surgery. The patients also expressed great dissatisfaction with items regarding disease prevention such as "desire for knowledge of periodontal disease prevention" and "desire for knowledge of recurrence control methods. "However, some items such as "dental pain during treatment," "dental fear of treatment," and "cost of treatment" increased significantly after treatment. The total mean score of general satisfaction before treatment was 2.65, decreasing to 2.60 after treatment. Conclusions: Among the 5 subscales, any increase in patient satisfaction related to the treatment factors is difficult to achieve, but we should be able to raise the satisfaction level of our patients through improvement of the preventive measure factors.