Interactions between dentists and anxious child patients: a behavioral analysis.

The aim of this investigation was to study the effect of dentists' behavior on the (anxious) behavior of child patients. Twelve high-anxious and a matched group of 12 low-anxious children from 6 to 12 yr of age were selected and randomly assigned to one of six dentists: three with experience in treating fearful children and three without such experience. Each child was treated twice. The first treatment was prophylactic, the second, 2 wks later, consisted of preparation and restoration of a cavity (Class 1) under local anesthesia. While both treatment sessions were videotaped, only the latter one was used in this study. Data analysis which did not control for autocorrelations revealed 22 (out of 28) significant effects. Data analysis with a control for autocorrelations showed only two significant effects: 'working contact', which decreased fear-related behavior and 'no physical contact', which increased fear-related behavior.