ABSTRACT
Background: Managing anxiety in children during the pandemic will be a concern for many pediatric dentists. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the anxiety levels in children aged between 4 and 9 years about the pediatric dentists donning a personal protective equipment (PPE) for dental treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic era in Bengaluru. Materials and Methods: The study was done in two parts with a sample size of 100 each. The first part was a questionnaire-based survey addressed to the pediatric dentists practicing in Bengaluru. The second part of the study was clinical assessment of dental anxiety at three time intervals (T1, T2, and T3) using the animated emoji scale. Results: The study revealed that 87% use preprocedural behavior management post-COVID. Majority of the dentists donned the PPE before conditioning the child (59%) and 41% wore the PPE after conditioning the child. The mean anxiety level in the study children showed an increase in anxiety level at T2 of 3.58 (P < 0.001 ± 1.32) in children aged 4–6 years when compared to T1 and T3 of 3.27 (P < 0.001 ± 1.64) and 3.07 (P < 0.001 ± 1.32), respectively. Conclusion: Children aged between 4 and 6 years showed increased levels of anxiety compared to the 7–9-year age group to the pediatric dentists donning a PPE during treatment in the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatric dentists also showed a satisfactory knowledge regarding disinfection and fumigation procedures.
ABSTRACT
Background: Over the last 20–30 years social trends, educational and parenting patterns, and the ethical and legal factors guiding them have led to the revaluation and even abandonment of some traditionally used behavior guidance techniques (BGTs). Aims: To profile the professionals providing specialized pediatric treatments in Spain and understand changes in their preferences and use of basic BGTs, and the evolution of these preferences. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational study was designed. Methods: One hundred and twenty-six dentists completed a previously validated survey. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were performed to analyze the questionnaire data. Results: The most common BGTs were “Tell/Show/Do” (98%) and positive reinforcement (92.1%), and the most abandoned BGT was: “hand-over-mouth” (15%), because it was rejected by parents and because of potential legal problems and psychological consequences for the patients. Of note, 37% of the professionals allowed the patient's parents to be present during the treatment. Conclusions: There has been a notable decrease in the use of certain BGTs in Spain, especially hand-over-mouth and voice control, because they are becoming less socially acceptable as the way society relates to and educates children changes.
ABSTRACT
To assess the parental attitude and knowledge towards the use of barrier techniques by the pediatric dentist, parents of 200 preschool pediatric patients were randomly selected and asked to fill the questionnaire related to the usage of barrier technique by the pediatric dentists. Seventy five percent of the parents felt, that pediatric dentist should wear gloves and 35% wanted their pediatric dentist to wear mouth mask, 70% of parents thought that both pediatric dentist and the patients will be protected from the spread of the infection. Thirty five percent of them also wanted pediatric dentist to wear protective glasses during the treatment procedure. Eighty five percent of them refused the treatment by pediatric dentists who were not wearing the gloves; 72% wanted the gloves to be changed for each patient. Fifty five percent of them thought that dental assistant also should wear gloves during treatment; only 55% of the parents were satisfied with the barrier techniques protocol of their pediatric dentist; Ninty percent of them thought that using gloves and mouth mask will scare the child. Quite high level of positive attitude and knowledge was seen in the present group of parents and they were not willing to take their child to the pediatric dentist who didn’t follow the proper barrier technique.