<p>Children&rsquo;s preferences toward dentist attire in Al Madinah Al Munawarah</p>

Abstract

Background and aim: Children make judgments about the dentist on the basis of dentists’ attire and talking gestures during dental visits. It is important to focus on dentists’ attire as they can adjust their attire according to a child’s preference. This study aims to assess the preferences of children regarding dentist attire in Al-Madinah Munawarah. Methods: A cross-sectional study design has been incorporated by recruiting 202 patients aged between 9 and 12 years of age from Taibah University Hospital. The study was carried out from March to June 2018 through a questionnaire that consists of 15 questions to assess the attire preference of the dentist. The data obtained through the questionnaire was analyzed through Microsoft Excel and imported to SPSS Statistical Software version 21. Results: The majority of the children (59.9%) specified that the attire of the dentist was important for them and 45.5% of them preferred the dentist to wear perfume. The majority of the children (57.4%) preferred that the dentist did not wear any jewelry. Moreover, the majority of the children (49.5%) preferred that dentists wore a white coat with white scarf. was preferred by the majority of the children (49.5%). Closed-toe shoes were preferred by most of the children (68.8%) and 56.9% of the children preferred the dentist to wear flat shoes. The attitude of dentists towards wearing shoes, jewelry, goggles, watches, badges, and face mask was found to have significant difference at 5% confidence interval; whereas, the children did not prefer traditional outfit worn by the dentists on their visit to the dental clinic. Conclusion: There is a significant impact of dentist attire on the child’s acceptance of the dental procedure.

COVID-19 induced stress among dentists affecting pediatric cooperation and alter treatment of choice

“…Children judge dentists depending on their overall attitude and friendly approach during dental visits [14], the present study found a correlation between PPE and lack of pediatric patient cooperation, which may relate to the perceived intimidating appearance of the extra protection equipment of healthcare professionals by pediatric population. As previously established, pediatric patients prefer traditional white coats or casual attire [15].…”

Children&#39;s Perceptions of Dentist&#39;s Attire and Environment: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…All the included studies had a descriptive design. Regarding the origin, the selected studies were nine from India, 8 , 13 , 15 , 23 – 25 , 28 , 29 , 35 three from Turkey, 10 , 14 , 32 three from the USA, 16 , 27 , 31 one from England, 26 two from Saudi Arabia, 12 , 34 one from Singapore, 30 one from Peru, 17 and one from Brazil. 33 Sample size ranged extensively from 50 24 to 1,155 subjects.…”

“… 33 Sample size ranged extensively from 50 24 to 1,155 subjects. 25 From the 21 included studies, 20 were retained to attend to question 1 using the following methodologies: picture-based survey and questionnaire, 8 , 10 , 12 – 15 , 23 , 25 – 30 , 33 questionnaire-based survey, 24 , 32 , 34 and picture-based survey. 16 , 17 , 35 Five studies were retained to address question 2 reported the children’s perceptions of the dental environment and the following methodologies were adopted: picture-based survey and questionnaire, 10 , 29 questionnaire-based survey, 23 , 24 and picture-based survey.…”

“…The children’s perceptions of the dentist’s attire studies indicated that children prefer their dentist to wear traditional formal attire with a white coat. 12 – 15 , 24 , 26 , 28 , 33 , 34 On the contrary, some authors 10 , 17 , 29 , 30 , 32 reported children’s preference for the colored coat. Asokan et al 25 and Yahyaoglu et al 32 found that child-friendly color attires may assist in dental anxiety control and improve communication.…”

“…Surprisingly, the majority of the included studies in this systematic review reported that white coat attire was the most preferred by children. 12 – 15 , 24 , 26 , 28 , 33 , 34 Other studies have concluded that children are inclined to be more comfortable with a dentist in a friendly or causal child-like attire. 10 , 16 , 17 , 25 , 32 Using a meta-analysis we meant to increase the sample size by grouping the results of the primary studies included in the review to elucidate whether there is a difference between the attires tested.…”