Acceptance of Different Behaviour Management Techniques used in Pediatric Dentistry by Parents

Introduction Behaviour Management as the name suggests is a practice of inculcating positive behaviour in the children regarding the treatment they are receiving. The various techniques of behaviour management are directed at altering the behaviour of the child, thus, helping to build a positive relationship between child, parent and doctor, hence maintaining a good relation between each other and harbouring a positive dental attitude in the child. In recent times there has been a major change in the approach towards children while providing paediatric dental care. But still many dental professionals face major hurdles during the treatment of child patient because of the different behavioural patterns encountered in the clinic. Majority of the dentists have been slower in incorporating child friendly approaches into dental care, although slowly many changes are being seen in recent times. All child patients differ in two major aspects i. e. capacity and perception [1]. Some children have zero capacity while others have a great deal of it. Perception is another important component in managing the childs behaviour as different children have different way of perceiving the situation they are in. Some of these behaviour management techniques arent equally acceptable to all the parents. What might be acceptable to one might be unacceptable to another. The acceptability of behaviour management techniques depends on the treatment needs of the child and its urgency and treatment type which influence the type of management techniques to be used and their acceptance by the parents [2]. With the evolution of the society the parental attitude have been changing too, so it is necessary to regularly assess the parental beliefs and update our understanding of the parental attitude towards behaviour management techniques [3]. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the parents acceptance towards the behavior management techniques commonly used in the pediatric dentistry. Material and Methods The study was designed as a cross-sectional study to evaluate the parental participation in accepting behaviour management techniques for their childs oral care. The study was conducted in the outpatient department of our hospital. Informed consent was obtained from the parents after outlining the goal of the study. Participant Selection A total of 100 parents (age 20 to 40 years) accompanying their children (age 3 to 6 years) to the outpatient department were invited to participate in the study. The method to explain about various techniques used was a Power Point presentation and a questionnaire was filled afterwards. The questionnaire was explained in the local language also. Socio-demographic variables were assessed, e. g. education, socio-economic status, etc. Conclusion The changing trends in parenting styles have influenced the acceptance of behaviour management techniques in pediatric dentistry. In our study, tell-show-do technique was the most accepted behavior technique and HOME the least accepted behavior technique. Parents seem to be more acceptable to pharmacologic methods than in previous studies.