Dealing from Scratch: Pre-Appointment Behaviour Guidance

Abstract

Background: One major aspect of child management in the dental set up is managing anxiety, a barrier to oral health care and service provision worldwide. Management involves either in prevention or abolishing fear/anxiety in uncooperative children. Behavior guidance needs to be implemented before the patient enters the dental clinic for the first dental visit. Pre-appointment preparations requires euphemistic approach to convey the treatment information to the children specially the one with poor cognition. So the study aimed to evaluate general dentist's perception in Jabalpur city regarding pre- appointment behavior guidance when dealing with child patients. Materials & method: A closed-ended questionnaire prepared on Google format was send to general dentists practicing in Jabalpur city, to take their perception on pre-appointment behavior guidance when dealing with children who come for dental care at their dental office. Results: Out of 209 general dentists, 129 participants treat children in their set up. Majority of general dentists believed that pre- appointment behaviour modification of the child helps in achieving positive behavior in the operatory. The most frequent means of reducing the anxiety of child before treatment as told by the practitioner was you tube video option (21.7%). Results also revealed that the post graduate participants were better aware about the pre- appointment behavior guidance than the graduate participants. Conclusion: Pre- appointment behaviour guidance for the child helps to alleviate patient’s anxiety and fear, delivering our services in a better and thereby instilling positive dental attitude in children. Educational programs should be planned for general dentists to improve their knowledge and skills in providing treatment to children. Keywords: Pre-appointment behaviour guidance, behavior guidance, pre- appointment preparations.