Barriers of restorative care among dental patients in Jeddah: A cross-sectional analytical survey

Introduction: The epidemiological data in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia indicate that there has been increased prevalence of dental caries and increased treatment needs, with negligible rates of restorative care among the population. The restorative treatments done among the population are very limited. There are no published reports that systematically document the barriers of restorative care among the residents of Jeddah. Aim: This present paper is a humble attempt toward the study of barriers of restorative care and systematic documentation of the dental patients in a private dental school in Jeddah. Materials and Methods: The methodology adopted by the study is the preparation of a questionnaire after validation and analyzing the responses from the sample of the universe of dental patients in Jeddah. The questionnaire broadly included (1) fear of consulting a dentist, (2) dental anxiety/fear to receive dental care, (3)cost of dental treatment, (4) fee for restoration, (5) pain, and (6) experience of a dentist (fear that a student may treat them). The completed questionnaire of 22 questions was proofread by a group of general dentists to check for clarity and meaning of the statements. After the changes, the questionnaire was distributed to 275 patients. The analysis of the data in the study was done by the SPSS version 23. Chi-square was calculated for the analyses of all the independent variables. Results: 41.4% of people have fear to visit a dentist. Hence, this is one of the barriers of restoration. Nearly 50% have responded that restorative treatment is painful. In addition, the experience of the dentist has an impact on the respondents getting treatments in the dental clinic. 76% of the respondents have a fear when a student who has lesser experience will be treating them in the dental clinic. Conclusion: Dentists have to distinguish between perceived barriers and the real barriers to choosing restorative treatments.