Factors Influencing a Parent’s Choice of Their Children’s Dentist

Objectives: This study explores why and how parents in Baton Rouge, LA choose a dentist for their child.
Methods: A questionnaire containing 38 items was distributed at Southwest Pediatrics in Baton Rouge, LA. 158 parents/caregivers volunteered to fill out the survey (123 females and 31 males). The survey consisted of demographic questions, ranking questions, and a comments section.
Results: Availability of emergency visits and office advertisement were significantly more important to the female subjects than the male subjects. There were no other differences in preferences between the genders. Differences were noted among subjects from varying income brackets (the highest bracket consisted of subjects whose annual income was more than $150,000 and the lowest bracket annual income was less than $23,050). Factors that were significantly more important to the lower income bracket population were: office advertisement, office location close to home, office location close to public transportation, office accepts Medicaid, office has multiple dentists, and office is affiliated with a corporate entity. In contrast, factors that were significantly more important to the higher income bracket population were the availability of evening appointments, availability of emergency visits (including after hours and weekends), and a dentist who is board certified in pediatric dentistry.
Conclusions: The data collected from this survey suggest that both genders share similar preferences when choosing a dentist for their child, with advertisement and access to emergency visits being more important to females. When choosing a dentist for their child, families with limited income are more concerned with financially-related factors and access to care. In contrast, families from the highest income brackets were more concerned with convenience and credentials of their dentist.