Attitudes of contemporary parents toward behavior management techniques used in pediatric dentistry.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to examine parental attitudes toward behavior management techniques currently used in pediatric dentistry.


METHODS
Fifty-five parents viewed videotaped scenes of 8 behavior management techniques being used during actual pediatric dental treatment. The 8 techniques shown were: (1) tell-show-do; (2) nitrous oxide sedation; (3) passive restraint; (4) voice control; (5) hand-over-mouth; (6) oral premedication (sedation); (7) active restraint; and (8) general anesthesia. Parents rated their acceptance of each technique using a visual analogue scale (VAS).


RESULTS
Forty-six parents completed survey forms for analysis. Tell-show-do was rated as the most acceptable technique, followed (in order of decreasing acceptance) by: (1) nitrous oxide sedation; (2) general anesthesia; (3) active restraint; (4) oral premedication; (5) voice control; (6) passive restraint; and (7) hand-over-mouth. The following groups emerged with statistically similar means: (1) tell-show-do and nitrous oxide sedation; (2) nitrous oxide sedation, general anesthesia, and active restraint; and (3) general anesthesia, active restraint, oral premedication, and voice control. Hand-over-mouth and passive restraint were rated as the least acceptable techniques, and the ratings for both techniques were significantly different from all other techniques and from each other. Overall, hand-over-mouth was the least acceptable technique. Acceptance of each behavior management technique was not related to parental age, gender, education level, or social status.


CONCLUSIONS
The mean parental acceptance rating was in the acceptable range for all behavior management techniques examined in this study except for hand-over-mouth. General anesthesia was ranked as the third most acceptable technique. This high level of acceptance of general anesthesia compared to earlier studies may suggest that parental acceptance of this technique is increasing.
Eaton
Jonathan J
JJ
McTigue
Dennis J
DJ
Fields
Henry W
HW
Beck
Michael
M
D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D001290:Attitude; D032763:Behavior Control / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000523:psychology*; D030881:Disclosure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014743:Videotape Recording; D014831:Voice
D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives