Behaviour management techniques adopted by paediatric dentists: A cross-sectional study

Background: During the dental treatment the child is exposed to the environment that naturally triggers natural fear response, hence behaviour management techniques come into consideration in order to provide the necessary treatment and thus aiding in overall development of the child. Aim: To identify the most common behaviour management techniques (BMTs) adopted by Paediatric dentist and Postgraduate students for 3 different age group in the management of children undergoing dental treatment and to know if there’s significant association between practitioners gender and the preference of the behaviour management technique. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study, by applying a convenient sampling method to the known contacts.111 participants were included in a study and questionnaires were distributed to the Paediatric dentists and the Postgraduate students in the form of Google form link. It was designed to record the demographic information and practice information and the type of behaviour management techniques used by the practitioner for three different age groups. Results: Out of 111 participants (43.6% were males and 56.4% were females). Parental presence (99.5%) was the most preferred behaviour management technique in the age group of 0-5 years, communication (93.63%) was most preferred behaviour management technique for the age group of 6-10 years and for the age above 11 years communication (53.63%) was the most preferred behaviour management technique. Conclusion: There’s a wide variety of behaviour management techniques, practiced for three different age groups, Parental presence is the most preferred behaviour management technique for the age group of 0-5 years, followed by distraction and tell-show-do respectively, for the age group of 6-10 years communication and communicative guidance was the most preferred followed by Tell-show-do, ask-tell-ask respectively, for the age group of above 11 years communication and communicative guidance was most preferred followed by Positive reinforcement and descriptive praise respectively. The choice of the behaviour management technique was influenced by the practitioner gender. Categories: Behaviour management Techniques, Communication, Gender Based preference of behaviour management technique.