An Exploratory Examination of “SERVQUAL” Versus “SERVPERF” for Prosthetic Dental Specialists

Perceived servicequality of prosthodontists is found to be a more complex construct that is service quality of general dentists, and SERVPERF without importance weights seems quite adequate for prosthetic dental practitioners' purposes.

Abstract

Previous research examined measurement of perceived service quality of general dentists, comparing the two predominant measurement tools—SERVQUAL and SERVPERF. This research extends the line of research to a dental specialty, prosthodontics (the provision of complex restorative dentistry), while modifying the survey approach to eliminate some previous methodological concerns. Perceived service quality of prosthodontists is found to be a more complex construct that is service quality of general dentists. SERVQUAL with the inclusion of importance weights was the most statistically significant model, but SERVPERF without importance weights accounted for the most variance. Prosthodontists may for the sake of brevity, decide to utilize SERVPERF without importance weights to measure their perceived service quality. Considering the trade-off between a marginal, albeit statistically significant, improvement in statistical significance, and the administration of a survey instrument one third the length, SERVPERF without importance weights seems quite adequate for prosthetic dental practitioners' purposes.