Parental Acceptance Towards Behavioural Management Techniques in Pediatric Dentistry
Author(s): Reshma Thirunavakarasu, Madhu Sudhan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan*
Abstract
Behavioral management has shown to provide a successful treatment of young children. There are young children which will exhibit disruptive behavior in dental appointments, which can either be easy or difficult for the dental practitioner to carry out the dental treatment. However, the behaviour management techniques require the approval and the acceptance of the parents before performing on children. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the attitude of the parents towards various behaviour management techniques used. A total of 100 parents volunteered for this study. Participants were made to see the photographs which demonstrate the frequently used behavioural management techniques. A questionnaire was given to the parents to rate each of these management techniques in accordance with their willingness to have them used on their children upon dental treatment. Each parent will score each question out of 10. The level of acceptance was compared by taking the mean for each of the 9 behavioral management techniques. The most accepted methods of management which were widely accepted by parents are tell-show-do (91.5%), positive reinforcement (89.2%) and voice control (76.8%). 60.8% of the parents were moderately accepting of HOME being used to manage pediatric patients. The least accepted behavioral management techniques used by dentists towards pediatric patients was found to be physical restraint (27.4%), general anesthesia (16.3%) and papoose board with (14.7%) acceptance. Parents prefer a management technique which requires the dentist to communicate and interact with their child.