Parental Acceptance and Consent towards Behavior Management Techniques Used in Pediatric Dentistry

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the parental attitudes towards traditional behavior management techniques employed by dentists treating young children in Taiwan. Materials and Methods: 490 parents joined the study from the pediatric dentistry department of Lin-Ko Chang Gung Memorial Hospital during January to June 2002. Six behavior management techniques were introduced to the parents via written presentation. Questionnaire was used to survey if they felt well-informed and would consent to perform the technique to their children. Data were analyzed using chi-square analysis for different behavior management techniques. All statistical analyses were done with the SAS software program, and the level of significance was set at p＜ 0.05. Results: More than 84% of parents felt quite well informed about each technique. The majority of parents favored tell-show-do, positive reinforcement, and voice control. General anesthesia was least accepted. Acceptance and well informed were predictive of parental consent towards behavior management techniques. Conclusion: (1)Written presentation was highly satisfied to inform the parents; (2)Seventy-seven percent of the parents felt it was important to be informed about every technique; (3)Parental acceptance of the behavior management techniques was in the order of TSD, physical restraints, voice control, hand-over-mouth, Papoose Board, and general anesthesia. General anesthesia was the least acceptable technique and had lower percentage of consent than other studies.