Dentists are expected to recognize and effectively treat childhood dental diseases that are within the knowledge and skills acquired during dental education. Behavior guidance is an interaction between the kids dentist and dental team, the patient, the parent, and parent directed toward communication and education. Its goal is to ease dental fear and anxiety while promoting an understanding of the need for good oral health.
A dentist who treats kids should have a variety of behavior guidance approaches. The behavior of the kids dentist and dental staff play an important role in behavior guidance of the dental patient. Through communication, the dental team can allay fear and anxiety, teach appropriate coping mechanisms and enable the oral health team to perform quality dentistry treatment safely and efficiently to nurture a positive dental attitude in the child.
Dental disease usually is not life-threatening and the type and timing of dental treatment can be deferred in certain circumstances. When a kid’s behavior prevents routine delivery of oral health care using communicative guidance techniques, the kids dentist must consider the urgency of dental need when determining a plan of treatment. The dentist must explain the risks and benefits of deferred or alternative treatments clearly, and informed consent must be obtained from the parent.
The pediatric dental staff can play an important role. The scheduling coordinator will have first contact with the patient, usually through telephone conversation. The clinical staff is an extension of the dentist and therefore, their communication skills are very important. All dental team members are encouraged to expand their skills and knowledge in behavior guidance techniques by reading dental literature, observing video presentations, or attending clinical kids dentistry courses.
The communicative behavior of dentists is a major factor in patient satisfaction. The kids dentist should recognize that not all patients may express their desire for involvement. Dentist behaviors reported to correlate with low parent satisfaction include rushing through dental appointments, not taking the time to explain procedures, barring parents from the dental examination room, and generally being impatient.
Studies of efficacy of various kids dentist behaviors in management of uncooperative patients are equivocal. Dentist behaviors of vocalizing, directing, empathizing, persuading, giving the dental patient a feeling of control, and operant conditioning have been reported as efficacious responses to uncooperative dental patient behaviors.
