Comparison of the behavior of children undergoing restorative dental treatment at the first visit versus the second visit in a private pediatric dental practice.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the behavior of child patients undergoing restorative dental treatment at the first office visit versus those whose first restorative treatment visit was after an initial non-threatening dental visit in a private pediatric dental practice. For patients up to and including age 9, patient behavior was recorded during the restorative session using the Sarnat scale, which rate behavior in 5 levels, from completely cooperative to completely uncooperative. Variables such as age, method of payment, referral source and sex were also recorded. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the behavior of children, who had the first restorative dental experience at the initial office visit versus those children who had the first restorative procedure after a non-invasive introductory visit in all instances. There were no differences according to age, sex, socio-economic status or source of referral. It is concluded that a child may not exhibit more negative behavior as a restorative dental patient when the first visit is for restorative therapy than if the restorative treatment is delivered at a later date after a non-threatening introduction to the dental environment. Thus, a pediatric dentist need not hesitate to treat a child at the first visit for fear that it may engender more negative behavior than if the restorative dental treatment was postponed until another time.