Social Science and Dentistry

cover art

Cover Date:
December 2010
Print ISSN:
2040-4263
Vol:
1
Issue:
2

Dentist-patient communication: how do the models correspond?

Introduction: The uniqueness of dental interactions has been somewhat assumed, but never scrutinised in depth, as ethnographic studies in dentistry are quite rare. On the other hand, medical sociology has accumulated a massive body of knowledge in relation to health professional-patient communication. In responding to the current calls to bridge the gaps between sociology and dentistry, this paper unpacks the complexity of communications in dental encounters. Aims and objectives: To analyse the specificities and commonalities of dentist-patient communication in relation to the models of medical professional-lay interactions. Research design: The study involves an ethnographic analysis of four dental-patient cases in primary and secondary dental care in the UK. These observations were part of a larger study of dental clinical encounters (36) undertaken in NHS primary and secondary care dental clinics in the UK in the period of 3 January – 31 October 2007. Each case was studied separately in accordance with the principle of ethno-methods: “just follow that case (patient)” (Garfinkel, 1967). Results and conclusions: Four case-studies demonstrated that different models of interactions were at work in dentist-patient interactions (consensus, negotiation, conflict and contractual models). The analysis revealed that, first, the model and its corresponding communications were likely to be determined by the type of the dental setting and oral health problem of the patient and, second, the model-split was not always feasible because of the interactive dynamics that blended the process and outcome of the encounters.

Key words: Healthcare communication, dentist-patient interactions, ethnography

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Page Start
57
Page End
67
Authors

Articles from this issue

  • Title
  • Pg. Start
  • Pg. End

  1. Editorial
  2. 56
  3. 56

  1. Dentist-patient communication: how do the models correspond?
  2. 57
  3. 67

  1. Journey to the dental office: a study of dental illness behaviour exhibited by people visiting government and private dental services in Delhi, India
  2. 69
  3. 76

  1. Caregiver’s social relations and children’s oral health in a low-income urban setting
  2. 77
  3. 87

  1. Exploring the concerns and needs of patients with terminal head and neck cancer and their caregivers
  2. 88
  3. 96

  1. Mothers’ understanding of dental-caries related feeding practices and children’s use of dental care in Ajman
  2. 97
  3. 107

  1. Anxiety reduction via brief intervention in dentally anxious patients: a randomised controlled trial
  2. 108
  3. 117

  1. Meeting at the University of Sheffield
  2. 118
  3. 118