ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Patient Expectations and Dentists' Perceptions of Those Expectations in Dental Implant Therapy: A Mirror-Design Study.
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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3 authors.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesOral healthcare succeeds not only when treatment is biologically sound but when its outcome meets patient expectations, making expectation management a measurable component of care quality. Patient satisfaction in dental implant therapy is strongly influenced by pre-treatment expectations, yet differences between patient expectations and dentists' perceptions of those expectations remain poorly characterized. This study compared the two using a mirror-design survey.
methodsA cross-sectional survey was administered to adult patients (
resultsSignificant between-group differences were identified in 13 of the 16 items, while total scale scores did not differ between groups, producing a cancel-out effect at the aggregate level. Within the surgical process apprehension domain, patients were more optimistic than dentists perceived, with procedural pain showing the largest between-group difference (Cliff's δ = 0.437). The opposite pattern emerged for long-term outcomes, where concern about implant loss yielded the largest difference across the entire instrument (δ = 0.645). Dentists' clinical experience was negatively correlated with the signed total gap score (ρ = -0.342,
conclusionPatients' expectations differed systematically from dentists' perceptions of those expectations across both domains, but these opposing differences offset at the aggregate level. Aggregate summary scores may therefore obscure clinically relevant item-level differences, and directional item-level analyses may better capture expectation patterns in implant dentistry.
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