Behavior of dentists and child patients during treatment

Abstract

This study is part of a larger research project which aims to analyze children's dental fear by making a detailed analysis of the behavioral interactions between dentists and anxious child patients. The behavior of 12 high- and 12 low-anxious children was recorded on videotape during two dental visits in which the children were treated by either experienced or inexperienced dentists. Results indicated a relation between the dentist's experience in treating anxious children and the behavior of child patients. In general, children treated by experienced dentists showed more fear-related behaviors. Furthermore, the behavior of the dentist was related to both his experience and the fear level of the child patient. Experienced dentists showed more communicative behaviors than the inexperienced dentists, but all dentists communicated more with high- than with low-anxious children. Experienced dentists worked faster than inexperienced dentists, but treatment of the high-anxious children was not more time-consuming than treatment of the low-anxious children.

Análise funcional da interação profissional-paciente em odontopediatria

“…Esse dado coaduna-se às afirmações de Prins et al 1987;Weinstein (1986) e Weinstein et al (1982, segundo as quais as condutas positivas do profissional (fornecimento de informação, compreensão das reações emocionais, uso de fantasias, entre outros) facilitam a aquisição e a manutenção de comportamentos colaborativos com o tratamento, enquanto os padrões negativos (manejo inadequado, utilização de coerção e negação dos sentimentos da criança) potencializam as reações de medo, tais como gritos, choros e protestos.…”

“…Aparentemente, as variáveis dos profissionais não são as únicas responsáveis pelos comportamentos das crianças durante a intervenção, uma vez que eles também tiveram seu comportamento influenciado pelas condutas dessas crianças (Prins et al, 1987;Weinstein et al, 1982). As características do procedimento clínico adotado, a familiaridade com a clínica e com o odontopediatra são exemplos de outros possí-veis fatores que influenciam a cooperação da criança.…”

“…Costa Jr. (2001 sugere que uma proposta para estudar o comportamento dos profissionais de saúde, no contexto do atendimento clínico, deveria incluir a análise funcional do comportamento de todos os indivíduos envolvidos na situação. Isso, porém, parece não estar sendo efetivamente realizado, já que poucos autores analisam o quanto o comportamento do profissional é também afetado funcionalmente pela conduta das crianças (Prins et al, 1987;Weinstein et al, 1982).…”

How do children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder interact in a clinical dental examination? A video analysis

“…Prins et al (11) further developed this coding system and concluded that some of the behaviours registered in their study needed to be differentiated more clearly to make the analysis more detailed. Both the inter-and intraexaminer tests yielded a high level of agreement and high weighted kappa values.…”

“…Weinstein et al (10) and Prins et al (11) have previously studied behavioural interactions between the dentist and the patient, in the context of dental anxiety, with the help of video recordings of dental appointments. A more detailed way to study behaviour is to study the interaction between two persons using the marte meo therapy model (12).…”