Astrid Keel, professor of marketing, presented a lecture on her research on dentistry titled, “Understanding Patients Dental Care Satisfaction Through Depth Interviews.”
About 10 community members attended the Tuesday event in person in the Lewis Center classroom, with a handful joining on Zoom.
“Dentistry has become like skin care,” Keel said. “A lot of it is about selling these teeth whitening products or looking like these celebrities who drill their teeth down to get veneers. This is not good for you.”
Keel’s research consisted of interviews with 22 people, ages 19 to 79. The subjects had to have gone to the dentist within the last five years.
The study focused on two main things: patients’ past experience with dental services and what their insurance covered.
“Understanding patient satisfaction is essential,” Keel said. “And public perception has a direct impact on how people are going to feel after treatment.”
Keel said dental service is hard for patients to evaluate on their own, and the American system for evaluating dental care is outdated, whereas other countries have more up-to-date ways to evaluate.
“There are a lot of similar things that get measured differently,” Keel said.
The study subjects who reported satisfaction with their care tended to be those whose care was relatively pain free.
Keel emphasized the importance of dental care to overall health.
“I learn so much from these seminars,” Nathan Garcia, senior sociology major, said.
—Anthony Eramya
Anthony Eramya, a senior journalism major, is a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine. He has previously served as a staff writer for both publications.
