Dress Code at the Dentist?
December 23, 2009

By Nancy Volkers
InteliHealth News Service

INTELIHEALTH - Children and their parents have different ideas about how pediatric dentists should dress. The kids like casual dress for their dentists. The adults prefer more formal attire.

The study surveyed 200 British parents and children. The parents were 40 years old on average. The children were 10 years old on average. Both parents and children preferred traditional white coats to "pediatric" coats. Parents also preferred formal rather than casual clothing under the coat.

Boys and men in the study preferred a male dentist, while girls and women preferred female dentists.

Other studies have found that patients care about how dentists look. Adults prefer professional attire and a white coat or white dental tunic. Hairstyle, makeup and jewelry do not affect how patients see dentists, however.

Researchers from Leeds Dental Institute in England did the study. It appears in the December issue of the European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry.