Influence of dentists’ age, gender, working experience, and practitioner type on the use of behaviour management techniques in dental treatment of children

Abstract

Abstract Aim: The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of dentists’ age, gender, working experience, and practitioner type on the use of non-pharmacological behaviour management techniques in the treatment of paediatric dental patients. Materials and methods: An anonymous, self-completion survey was mailed to 200 randomly selected dentists. The recorded information included items on practitioner’s gender, age, working experience, specialty status, and frequency of using different non-pharmacological behaviour management techniques as well as the factors influencing the choice for specific behaviour guidance techniques. Results: Significant differences between age/gender distributions were seen in the use of the basic non-pharmacological behaviour management techniques. Younger females were more likely to indicate that they were comfortable using communicative guidance techniques. The respondents in the over-40 age group did not rely at all on negative reinforcement and parental presence/absence techniques during the dental treatment of children (p<0.05). Dental practitioners with working experience of fewer than 10 years were more likely to utilize behaviour guidance techniques in attending paediatric dental patients compared to their older colleagues. No significant difference by practitioner types was seen in the use of the basic behaviour management techniques (p>0.05). Conclusions: The present study showed age, gender, working experience, and practitioner type statistically significant differences in the use of behaviour management techniques during the dental treatment of children. The choice of a technique was influenced mainly by personal factors associated with the physical and psychological health of the child.