Knowledge and Attitudes of Dental Practitioners Regarding the Use of Behaviour Management Techniques for Paediatric Dental Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding children's behaviour and development is crucial in managing and treating paediatric dental patients. Dental practitioners are expected to be aware of the behaviour management techniques which will facilitate routine dental treatment of the child dental patient. Aim: The objective of the study was to investigate dental practitioners' awareness and use of non-pharmacological behaviour management techniques in attending paediatric dental patients in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Materials and methods: An anonymous, self-completed mailed survey was sent to 200 dentists. The recorded information includeditems on awareness and frequency of using different non-pharmacological behaviour management techniques, socio-demographic questions, working experience, specialty status. Results: Survey response was 59% and 118 dental practitioners participated in the study. Tell-show-do, positive reinforcement, and stop signals were considered the most used techniques by more than 50% of participants. Less than 7% of the respondents reported the use of desensitization, cognitive restructuring, and latent inhibition. Conclusions: Most of the dental practitioners had a medium level of awareness of the non-pharmacological behaviour management techniques. The lack of training in using these techniques, however, is of concern. There is a need to build awareness among the dentists associated with the child psychology and its application during treatment.