Do People Trust Dentists? Development of the Dentist Trust Scale

Method: Questionnaire data were collected from a simple random sample of 596 Australian adults (adjusted response rate = 41.1%) contacted by mail in 2012. The 11-item General Trust in Physicians Scale (Hall et al., 2002) was modified to apply to dentists.

Result: The Dentist Trust Scale (DTS) had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.92) and exploratory factor analysis using principle axis factoring revealed a single factor solution. The single-measures intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.52. Between 10% and 25% of people indicated distrust of the dentist across the 11 items. Overall DTS scores varied little by demographic or socioeconomic characteristics of participants. However, DTS scores were significantly associated with trust in the dentist last visited, having previously changed dentists due to unhappiness with the care received, currently having dental pain, usual visiting frequency, avoiding going to the dentist, and with past experiences of discomfort, gagging, fainting, embarrassment and personal problems with the dentist.

Conclusion: While the majority of people exhibit trust in dentists generally, a sizable minority of people indicate distrust. Dentist trust is related to several unfavourable patient outcomes as well as negative past experiences. The DTS shows promising reliability and validity evidence.