PERCEIVED ORTHODONTIST BEHAVIORS THAT PREDICT PATIENT SATISFACTION, ORTHODONTIST-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP, AND PATIENT ADHERENCE IN ORTHODONTICTREATMENT

Orthodontist-patient relationships have significant effects on the suc cess of orthodontic treatment. The purpose of this study was to evalua te the effects of patient-perceived orthodontist behaviors on (a) pati ent perceived orthodontist-patient relationship, (b) patient satisfact ion, and (c) orthodontist-evaluated patient adherence or compliance in orthodontic treatment, The sample consisted of 199 orthodontic patien ts, 94 boys and 105 girls, ages 8 to 17 years, who were recruited at t he beginning of orthodontic treatment by a member of the research team who was not involved in treating the patients. The patients were aske d to complete standardized questionnaires in a room away from the orth odontic clinic, 8 to 12 months into treatment. At the same time, the o rthodontic resident treating each patient completed a standard instrum ent that evaluated patient compliance. Orthodontist behavior items suc h as politeness, friendliness, communicativeness, and empathy were eva luated by the patients. Stepwise multiple regression analyses (p < 0.0 5) showed that eight behaviors predicted perception of the orthodontis t-patient relationship (final model R(2) = 0.7930 and 0.7333) as well as patient satisfaction (final model R(2) = 0.7952) and two behaviors predicted patient compliance (final model R(2) = 0.0986). Of the 24 or thodontist behaviors, 22 were significantly correlated (p < 0.0001) wi th favorable orthodontist-patient relationship and patient satisfactio n. Of the 24 behaviors, 10 were significantly correlated (five at p < 0.01 and five at p < 0.05) with patient compliance. Patient-perceived orthodontist behaviors are related to and predict (1) patient perceive d orthodontist-patient relationship, (2) patient satisfaction, and (3) orthodontist-evaluated patient adherence or compliance.