The attitude of Czech dental patients to the use of rubber dam

Background The most frequent arguments against rubber dam are that patients generally do not like it and the prolonged time of treatment. However, according to several studies, the attitude of patients towards rubber dam is rather positive. Objective To find out the attitudes of patients to treatment with rubber dam; to determine influence of the circumstances of treatment or factors about patients; and to establish a mean time needed for rubber dam placement. Design A questionnaire survey. Setting and participants Patients of general dental practitioners, university clinical specialists and undergraduate dental students. Results A total of 179 questionnaires were distributed, from which 150 were returned. The mean time needed for rubber dam placement was 4 min for students and < 2 min for dentists. For 56% of patients, this had been their first experience with rubber dam. A total of 77% of patients indicated a higher level of comfort during treatment with rubber dam. A preference to the future rubber dam usage was indicated by 86% of patients. The preference to the further rubber dam usage was statistically significantly affected by the level of comfort during the treatment with rubber dam (P < 0.001) and by the sufficiency of explanation of reasons for rubber dam usage (P < 0.05). The other factors presented no statistically significant influence on patients' attitude to rubber dam usage. Conclusions The attitude of patients to rubber dam was rather positive in our study. The time needed for rubber dam application was rather short.