Children's attitudes toward behavior management techniques used by dentists

Abstract

Purpose: Many behavior management techniques (BMTs) are used in dental offices. The objective of this study was to evaluate how children felt towards the BMT used in the dental office by using the newly invented "attitude meter." Methods: Two hundred forty children 6 to 17 years old were selected randomly to participate in the study. Each student was asked to watch 8 video scenes of live BMTs. The BMTs used consisted of: (1) tell-show-do (TSD); (2) rewards; (3) general anesthesia; (4) papoose board; (5) hand-holding; (6) mouthprop; (7) voice control; and (8) hand-overmouth exercise (HOME). After watching each BMT scene, the children were instructed to express their attitude towards the BMT by drawing a "line of favor" - the newly invented attitude meter. Results: It was found that TSD and HOME were the most and least favorite BTM, respectively. Those who had dental experience appeared to have worse attitudes. Older and younger children had different opinions towards some BMTs. The older children preferred the papoose board and hand-holding to the mouthprop. All children preferred the use of the papoose board and hand-holding to voice control. Conclusions: Children appeared to judge a behavior management technique according to the way it looked. The "line of favor" is a reliable tool to measure attitudes of children over 6 years old.