The use of a psychological testing instrument as an indicator of dissatisfaction with aesthetic dental treatment - a preliminary study

BACKGROUND: The use of psychological testing to indicate the potential for dissatisfaction with dental treatment has many potential patient and clinician benefits but has been rarely investigated. The study aimed to explore the use of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) psychological testing instrument in describing the relationship between pre-treatment psychological traits and aesthetic restorative treatment satisfaction.

METHODS: Thirty patients requiring aesthetic restorative dental treatment completed three questionnaires, namely 1) a pre-treatment expectation assessment, 2) an SCL-90-R analysis pre-treatment and 3) an outcome assessment post-treatment to assess patient's expectations and satisfaction of the proposed dental treatment relating to function, aesthetics, comfort and tissue preservation. Logistic regression models were used to assess the impact of psychological variables on patient satisfaction after adjusting for baseline expectations (P