An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques

Background: Behaviour management techniques (BMTs) are utilised by dentists to aid children's dental anxiety (DA). Children's perceptions of these have been underexplored, and their feedback could help inform paediatric dentistry. Aim: To explore children's acceptability and percep...

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Main Authors: Davies, E. Bethan, Buchanan, Heather
Format: Article
Published: Wiley 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29070/
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author Davies, E. Bethan
Buchanan, Heather
author_facet Davies, E. Bethan
Buchanan, Heather
author_sort Davies, E. Bethan
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Behaviour management techniques (BMTs) are utilised by dentists to aid children's dental anxiety (DA). Children's perceptions of these have been underexplored, and their feedback could help inform paediatric dentistry. Aim: To explore children's acceptability and perceptions of dental communication and BMTs and to compare these by age, gender, and DA. Design: A total of sixty-two 9- to 11-year-old school children participated in the study. Children's acceptability of BMTs was quantified using a newly developed Likert scale, alongside exploration of children's experiences and perceptions through interviews. anova and t-tests explored BMT acceptability ratings by age, gender, and DA. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews. Findings: Statistical analyses showed no effect of age, gender, or DA upon BMT acceptability. Children generally perceived the BMTs as acceptable or neutral; stop signals were the most acceptable, and voice control the least acceptable BMT. Beneficial experiences of distraction and positive reinforcement were common. Children described the positive nature of their dentist's communication and BMT utilisation. Conclusion: Dental anxiety did not affect children's perceptions of BMTs. Children were generally positive about dentist's communication and established BMTs. Children's coping styles may impact perceptions and effectiveness of BMTs and should be explored in future investigations.
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spelling nottingham-290702020-05-04T20:19:04Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29070/ An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques Davies, E. Bethan Buchanan, Heather Background: Behaviour management techniques (BMTs) are utilised by dentists to aid children's dental anxiety (DA). Children's perceptions of these have been underexplored, and their feedback could help inform paediatric dentistry. Aim: To explore children's acceptability and perceptions of dental communication and BMTs and to compare these by age, gender, and DA. Design: A total of sixty-two 9- to 11-year-old school children participated in the study. Children's acceptability of BMTs was quantified using a newly developed Likert scale, alongside exploration of children's experiences and perceptions through interviews. anova and t-tests explored BMT acceptability ratings by age, gender, and DA. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews. Findings: Statistical analyses showed no effect of age, gender, or DA upon BMT acceptability. Children generally perceived the BMTs as acceptable or neutral; stop signals were the most acceptable, and voice control the least acceptable BMT. Beneficial experiences of distraction and positive reinforcement were common. Children described the positive nature of their dentist's communication and BMT utilisation. Conclusion: Dental anxiety did not affect children's perceptions of BMTs. Children were generally positive about dentist's communication and established BMTs. Children's coping styles may impact perceptions and effectiveness of BMTs and should be explored in future investigations. Wiley 2013-07 Article PeerReviewed Davies, E. Bethan and Buchanan, Heather (2013) An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques. International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 23 (4). pp. 297-309. ISSN 0960-7439 paediatric dentistry dental anxiety http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ipd.12007/abstract doi:10.1111/ipd.12007 doi:10.1111/ipd.12007
spellingShingle paediatric dentistry
dental anxiety
Davies, E. Bethan
Buchanan, Heather
An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques
title An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques
title_full An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques
title_fullStr An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques
title_full_unstemmed An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques
title_short An exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques
title_sort exploratory study investigating children's perceptions of dental behavioural management techniques
topic paediatric dentistry
dental anxiety
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29070/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29070/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29070/