Assessment of patient expectation and perception of service quality and loyalty in dental services

This study adopted a modified service quality scale (SERVQUAL scale) and applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the relationships among patient socioeconomic variables, expectation and perception of service quality, and loyalty with regard to dental services in Taiwan. Overall, 635 patients attending dental services from 12 randomly selected clinics enrolled. It revealed that patients’ perceived service quality did not meet expected service quality for 18 in 22 items, suggesting the need to improve their service quality for dental clinics in Taiwan. SEM analysis resulted that expected service quality indirectly affects patient loyalty through perceived service quality. Furthermore, female, highly educated, and high-income patients have significantly higher expectations of service quality, but female patients having lower perceived service quality. This study proposed a model to measure service quality and provided information of quality promotion to enhance patient loyalty in dental clinics.