An investigation of paediatric dentists' attitudes towards parental accompaniment and behavioural management techniques in the UK.

OBJECTIVE: Good behavioural management techniques are essential for treating children. Recent research has investigated parental and paediatric attitudes towards various behavioural management techniques. However, in the UK, very little is known about paediatric attitudes towards such issues. Accordingly, the aim of this investigation was to conduct a survey in order to provide insight into the current thinking of paediatric dentists across the UK.

STUDY DESIGN: A questionnaire was developed for this study on the basis of previous surveys investigating the attitudes of paediatric dentists towards the use of various behavioural management techniques in Australia and the USA. Areas covered in the questionnaire included: attitudes towards parental accompaniment; attitudes regarding parental expectations; and attitudes towards the use of various different child management techniques. The questionnaire was sent out to all registered members of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (n = 304).

RESULTS: 245 responses (80.5%) were returned, of which 218 provided valid and useable information (72%). A majority of 80% of respondents supported parental accompaniment of the child during the course of treatment. Separate analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures revealed significant differences between acceptability of parental accompaniment and the year in which dentists had qualified (P < 0.05). More recently qualified dentists were less accepting of parental accompaniment. Only a minority of dentists reported feeling pressured by parental expectations with regard to their child's treatment. However, an independent sample t-test revealed that male dentists experienced greater perceived conflict between dental and parental expectations, than female dentists (P < 0.05). In terms of specific behavioural management techniques, the most favoured was 'tell-show-do' with 87% of respondents citing this as their most commonly used method. Least acceptable were 'hand over mouth' techniques, followed closely by active restraint and papoose board.

CONCLUSION: In general, paediatric dentists in the UK favoured less 'restraining' methods of behavioural management. There was widespread support for parental accompaniment in the dental operatory and a desire to work in participation with parents in order to facilitate the child's good behaviour and more effective dental treatment. Further studies comparing the effectiveness of various techniques used with regard to treatment time and clinical outcomes, are now required.