Abstract

We are trained from our earliest years to draw significance from colour and dress. Thus, whilst Cinderella shyly appears in a sparkling white gown, the wicked stepmother flaunts in purple and black; in the same way we come to expect doctors to wear a white coat. But does what doctors and dentists wear really affect patient perceptions of the professionalism of the service and quality of care received? The results of a recent study by Martin Fallowfield, a GDP in Peterborough, will soon uncover the facts. Dentists can then know whether what they wear affects their patients' perceptions of the service they provide