The effect of restorative treatment on children's behavior at the first recall visit in a private pediatric dental practice

Abstract

Clinicians anecdotally believe that children, who have an invasive dental procedure after the initial office visit, often exhibit negative behavior at the recall examination. The purpose of this study was to document the behavior of children having the first recall visit at a private pediatric dental practice to determine if the restorative dentistry experience influenced behavior at recall. All children presenting for the first recall visit in the private practice of the author were included in the study (n = 271). Patient age, method of payment as an indicator of socio-economic status and whether or not they had restorative dental treatment subsequent to the initial visit was recorded by the author, who was also the treating dentist. Behavior was evaluated using the scale formulated by Sarnat, which rates behavior in 5 categories from completely cooperative to completely uncooperative. Behavior at the initial visit was also recorded and retrieved from retrospective examination of patient records. The results showed that 3 to 6 year olds, who underwent restorative dentistry, exhibited more negative behavior than those who did not. No difference in behavior was found in those children under 3 years or over 6 years of age. Depending on the age, behavior at the first recall visit may be influenced by having undergone a restorative dental procedure after the initial examination.