title: Attitudes of pediatric dentists toward parental presence during dental treatment of children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was performed to examine the current attitudes of pediatric dentists in the United States toward the presence of parents in the dental operatory during dental treatment for their children.
  
  
  METHODS
  E-mail letters were sent to the 1516 American pediatric dentists listed in the directory of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Respondents were directed to follow a hyperlink provided in the e-mail letter to a website containing survey questions. Answers were directly submitted via the internet into a database supported by the New Jersey Dental School.
  
  
  RESULTS
  905 acceptable surveys were received (60% response rate). Most practitioners (74%) generally allowed parental presence, although a majority (58%) felt that children would be less cooperative in the presence of parents. Initial examination had the highest frequency of parental presence allowed, whereas sedation had the lowest. When practitioners considered whether to allow parental presence, age and behavior were the two most important factors reported. Some demographic factors that had an effect on parental presence policy were region of the country (more parental presence was allowed in the Northeast and West), area of practice (more parental presence was allowed in suburban or urban areas), and type of practice (solo practitioners were more likely to exclude parents). Most practitioners reported a recent change to allow more parental presence because of changes in the expectation of parents (67%), and legal issues (66%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most American pediatric dentists allow parents in the dental operatory most of the time that children receive dental treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Practitioners might wish to follow the findings of this study and allow parents into the treatment operatory whenever children receive dental treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Dental School, Newark, USA. mramosdmd@optonline.net
authors.forename: Mario E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Juei Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Milton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Houpt
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D016292:Procedural Sedation; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019140:Dental Care for Children; D003815:Dentists / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006124:Group Practice, Dental; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry; D010808:Physical Examination; D011331:Private Practice; D011365:Professional Practice Location; D012424:Rural Population; D013383:Suburban Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population