Davies , E . Bethan and Buchanan , Heather ( 2013

Background: Behaviour management techniques [BMTs] are utilized by dentists to aid children’s dental anxiety. Children’s perceptions of these have been under-explored, 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 dental anxiety. Design: 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 dental anxiety. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews. Findings: Statistical analyses showed no effect of age, gender, or dental anxiety 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.