Parental Presence in Dental Operatory as a Behaviour Management Tool on Children in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Abstract

Objective: To interpret the change in child's behaviour in presence/absence of parents during dental care. Material and Methods: Sixty children were examined till the age of 12 years visiting the out patient department of pediatric dentistry where parents along with the child were allowed in the operatory. After sometime parents were asked to leave and behavioural changes were noted. During revisit again the behaviour was noted according to Frankl scale. McNemar test was applied to test the behaviour response of children with parental absence/presence. The significance level was set at 5 %. Results: In 1st visit, 78.3% showed positive behaviour and 21.7% showed negative behaviour in parental absence, indicating that the child has more likelihood of showing positive behaviour in the presence of parents (p<0.001). More positive behaviour of the children is noticed, when the parents are present in 3-5 year age group. In other 6-8 and 9-12 year age group, no difference was noticed in the presence or absence of the parents (p>0.05). In second visit, the negative behaviour reduced. When parents were absent 21.7% showed negative behaviour (p=0.000). This indicated that the child has more likelihood of showing positive behaviour in the presence of parents. Age group-wise analysis revealed that in the 3-5 years age group presence or absence of parents is a significant factor for child's behaviour. This factor is a non-issue in the elder age group like 6-8 years and 9-12 years. When the parents are absent, no significant difference was observed (p>0.05). Conclusion: There was no significant difference in parental presence/absence in elder children while the same can't be said for younger children.

Does the presence of parents in the dental operatory room influence children’s behaviour, anxiety and fear during their dental treatment? A systematic review

“…After de‐duplication, 2846 references remained (Figure 1). After review of titles and abstracts, the full texts of 30 original research publications were assessed and 16 were retained for narrative synthesis 5‐9,11,18‐27 (Appendix ). Five studies were included in the meta‐analyses.…”

“…Eight selected studies were designed as randomized clinical trials, 6,8,11,19,20,24,25,27 whereas the other two were non‐randomized clinical trials, 21,26 and six were before‐and‐after studies 5,7,9,18,22,23 . Almost half of the included studies were conducted in the United States 6,18,22,23,25‐27 .…”

“…Almost half of the included studies were conducted in the United States 6,18,22,23,25‐27 . Some studies were carried out in India 5,7‐9,11,19,20,24 and Saudi Arabia 24 . The date of publication varied from 1958 23 to 2019 5 .…”

“…Some studies were carried out in India 5,7‐9,11,19,20,24 and Saudi Arabia 24 . The date of publication varied from 1958 23 to 2019 5 . The sample size of studies ranged widely from 18 23 to 122 24 subjects.…”

“…Nonetheless, previous studies have evaluated and reported parental presence/absence during their child's dental treatment with conflicting results. Some studies have indicated that a child is more likely to show positive behaviour in the presence of parents, 5,6 whereas others have reported that parents can be excluded from the dental operatory room in order to eliminate many behaviour‐related problems during dental treatment 7 . Moreover, some authors have found that parental presence/absence does not affect child's anxiety or cooperation 8,9 …”