Article Sidebar

Submitted
18 August 2025
Accepted
23 November 2025
Published
30 January 2026
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 19 Download : 8

Main Article Content

Abstract

Background: The ability to recognize and understand one's own emotions as well as those of others is referred to as emotional intelligence (EI). Building a strong doctor-patient relationship is greatly aided by emotional intelligence. More effective than those who conduct patient consultations in a strictly official manner, are the clinicians who adopt a warm, friendly, and reassuring tone. Objective: The present study was conducted to assess emotional intelligence of dental practitioners and the quality of treatment delivered to paediatric patients in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A self administered well-structured questionnaire, containing different questions reflecting Emotional intelligence of the dental practitioner, was asked from 416 parents of paediatric patients. It includes socio-demographic details; questions reflecting dentist’s behavior, skills and treatment management given to child. Emotional intelligence score was recorded using ‘five-point-Likert-scale’. The responses to questionnaire were randomly picked from Saudi dental practitioners with different professional levels and clinical settings. The data collected was subjected to statistical analysis using IBM SPSS version 20.0 software at level of significance p-value<0.05. Results: Mean EI score was significantly (p-value<0.05) more in females (135.66); Saudi (133.98) dentists; and those working in Government (135.49) set ups. A statistically significant relationship (p-value<0.05) was observed with respect to recommendation of dentist; and his communication skill with EI score. EI scores were significantly (p-value<0.05) more in relation with understanding the diagnosis and oral hygiene instructions; motivation to continue the treatment; and visit to same dentist. Mean EI scores were comparable in relation to different age groups, showing insignificant statistical-difference (p-value>0.05). Conclusion: Irrespective of position, dental practitioners in Saudi Arabia showed adequate EI levels for effective management of paediatric patients of all age groups.

Keywords

Emotional intelligence Dental practitioners Pediatric patients Saudi Arabia

Article Details

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Contemporary Dental Sciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Al-Qahtani, H. M., Ain, T. S., Togoo, R. A., Altheeb, A., Tahir, S., Aljamili, A. A., & Alam, T. (2026). Emotional Intelligence of Dental Practitioners and the Quality of Treatment Delivered to Pediatric Patients in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Contemporary Dental Sciences, 3(1), 15–21. Retrieved from https://jcds.qu.edu.sa/index.php/JCDS/article/view/2401
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX

References

  1. Gokhale ST, Al-Qahatani SM, Raj RS, Al-Qahatani BS, Vaddamanu SK, Jathmi AA, Alshehri WA, Nagati RR. Are empathy and emotional intelligence missing in dental practitioner's toolkit in Saudi Arabia? A cross-sectional study. Niger J Clin Pract. 2019;22(10):1403-1407.
  2. Alsaif M I, Aljuni A, Alyemni K, et al. The Association Between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Performance of Dental Students at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Cureus. 2024;16(8): e66431.
  3. Hojat M, Gonnella JS, Mangione S, Nasca TJ, Veloski JJ, Erdmann JB, et al. Empathy in medical students as related to academic performance, clinical competence and gender. Med Educ 2002;36:522 527.
  4. Vandervoort D: The importance of emotional intelligence in higher education. Curr Psychol. 2006, 25:4-7.
  5. Jahan SS, Nerali JT, Parsa AD, Kabir R: Exploring the association between emotional intelligence and academic performance and stress factors among dental students: a scoping review. Dent J (Basel). 2022; 10:67.
  6. Nieto-Carracedo A, Gomez-Iñiguez C, Tamayo LA, Igartua JJ: Emotional intelligence and academic achievement relationship: emotional well-being, motivation, and learning strategies as mediating factors. Psicología Educativa. 2024; 30:67-74.
  7. Bhaskar DJ, Aruna DS, Rajesh G, Suganna M, Suvarna M. Emotional intelligence of pedodontics and preventive dentistry postgraduate students in India. Eur J Dent Educ. 2013 Feb;17(1):e5-9.
  8. Kalantarian H, Jedoui K, Washington P, Tariq Q, Dunlap K, Schwartz J, et al. Labeling images with facial emotion and the potential for pediatric healthcare. Artif Intell Med. 2019;98:77–86.
  9. Sharma V, Sharma M, Dutta B, Bagchi A. Knowledge and Awareness of Emotional Artificial Intelligence as Tool in Child's Oral Health Care Assessed Among Dental Professionals of Eastern India. A Cross Sectional Study. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2024 ;16(Suppl 3):S2033-S2035.
  10. Schutte NS, Malouff JM, Hall LE, Haggerty DJ, Cooper JT, Golden CJ, et al. Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Pers Individ Dif 1998;25:167 77.
  11. Pembroke NF. Empathy, emotion, and ekstasis in the patient Physician relationship. J Relig Health 2007;46:287 98.
  12. Austin EJ, Evans P, Goldwater R, Potter V. A preliminary study of emotional intelligence, empathy and exam performance in first year medical students. Personality Individ Differ 2005; 39(8): 1395–1405.
  13. Duarte MIF, Raposo MLB, Rodrigues PJF da SF, Branco MC. Measuring empathy in medical students, gender differences and level of medical education: An identification of a taxonomy of students. Inv Ed Med 2016;5:253-60.
  14. Imran N, Awais Aftab M, Haider II, Farhat A. Educating tomorrow’s doctors: A cross sectional survey of emotional intelligence and empathy in medical students of Lahore. Pak J Med Sci 2013;29:710 4.
  15. Shah M, Thingujam NS. Perceived emotional intelligence and ways of coping among students. J Indian Acad Appl Psychol 2008;34:83 91.
  16. Di Lillo M, Cicchetti A, Lo Scalzo A, Taroni F, Hojat M. The Jefferson scale of physician empathy: Preliminary psychometrics and group comparisons in Italian physicians. Acad Med 2009;84:1198 202.
  17. Corah NL, Oshea RM, Bissell GD, et al. The dentist-patient relationship: perceived dentist behaviors that reduce patient anxiety and increase satisfaction. J Am Dent Assoc 1988; 116: 73-76.
  18. Kulich KR, Berggren U, Hallberg LRM. A qualitative analysis of patient-centered dentistry in consultations with dental phobic patients. J Health Commun 2003; 8: 171-187.
  19. Sarnat H, Arad P, Hanauer D, et al. Communication strategies used during pediatric dental treatment: a pilot study. Pediatr Dent 2001;23: 337-342.
  20. Schouten BC, Eijkman MA, Hoogstraten J. Dentists’ and patients’ communicative behavior and their satisfaction with the dental encounter. Community Dent Health 2003; 20: 11-15.
  21. Anushka G, Nagesh L. Empathy and emotional intelligence in dental practitioners of Bareilly city – A cross sectional study. Natl J Integr Res Med 2016;7:106 12.
  22. Sherman JJ, Cramer A. Measurement of changes in empathy during dental school. J Dent Educ 2005;69:338 45