Assessing Personality Risks profile in Prosthodontics Patients: A Delphi-Driven Classification Approach.

Purpose: This paper aims to identify specific personality traits that could potentially undermine the overall satisfaction of the patient with the prosthodontic treatment.

Materials and methods: A literature review was conducted to identify the personality traits (PT) relevant to patients requiring dental treatment. Later, a Delphi process was employed to classify the selected PT into risk levels to prosthodontic treatment satisfaction, ultimately leading to the development of a personality risk profile (PRP) proposal. The expert panel consisted of specialists with over ten years of practice. The Delphi process involved three rounds of evaluation and consensus building.

Results: Twenty-six PT associated with dental treatment satisfaction were identified. Following the three rounds of the Delphi method, a consensus was achieved, resulting in the classification of these PT into three PRP, as follows: Low Risk (cooperative, understanding, compliant, trusting, concerned about their health, willing, thankful, and responsible), Moderate Risk (Insecure, Over-informed, Demanding, Appearance-obsessed, and Pessimistic), and High Risk (mistrustful, skeptical, unwilling, defiant attitude, unrealistic expectations, neglectful, treatment resistant, patient refers negatively about other dentists, violent, irresponsible, idealise the dentist, and controller).

Conclusions: This study identified and categorized PT that have the potential to adversely impact prosthodontics treatment satisfaction. Through this PRP proposal, dental professionals can recognize these patients before initiating prosthodontic interventions.