Ethnic and language influence on parents' perception of paediatric behaviour management techniques.

BACKGROUND

Parental preference for various behaviour management techniques (BMTs) used in paediatric dentistry has been shown to be influenced by many factors, including ethnicity.

AIM

To measure parental acceptability of BMTs used in paediatric dentistry and how it is influenced by ethnicity and language.

DESIGN

Parents of patients presenting to a paediatric dentistry residency clinic in Houston, Texas, USA or Medellín, Colombia watched ten video BMT vignettes and rated their acceptance on a visual analog scale (VAS). Participants were categorized into six groups based on language, ethnicity, and country of residence.

RESULTS

Parental acceptance of BMTs was affected by language, ethnicity, and country of residence (P = 2.2 × 10 ). Ethnic groups in the USA had a mean overall acceptance rate of all BMTs. Colombians rated all BMTs less acceptable than the US cohorts (P < 0.05), with the exception of voice control, which Colombians rate less acceptable than English-speaking Caucasians and Spanish-speaking Hispanics in the USA (P < 0.05). The Colombian population were not accepting of conscious sedation, nitrous oxide, general anaesthesia, and protective stabilization.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents from different ethnic groups express different preferences in BMTs. Parents continue to prefer noninvasive techniques over pharmacologic and advanced techniques, with the exception of voice control.