Parental acceptance of advanced behaviour management techniques in normal treatment and in emergency situations used in paediatric dentistry.

BACKGROUND

Behaviour management techniques (BMT) in children are essential to achieve a successful dental treatment, but parents are not equally accepting BMT.

AIM

To investigate the parental acceptance of advanced behaviour management techniques used in paediatric dentistry in normal and in emergency situations in Germany.

METHODS

Parents bringing their children for dental care answered a questionnaire on the acceptance of four advanced BMT: passive restraint, active restraint, nitrous oxide sedation and general analgesia. The study was conducted in five university dental clinics in Germany. Parents rated overall acceptance of each technique using a five points Likert scale.

RESULTS

136 parents answered the questionnaire. The acceptance of all advanced BMT was significantly higher when the treatment was urgent (p < 0.001, paired sample t test). Nitrous oxide sedation was rated as the most acceptable technique in normal treatment (52.6%) and in emergency situation (68.2%), while passive restraint was the least acceptable technique in both normal (19.9%) and emergency situation (37.8%).

CONCLUSIONS

Parents in Germany are more willing to accept advanced BMT in emergency situations, with nitrous oxide being generally the most preferred technique.