Approaching the Pediatric Dental Patient: A Review of Nonpharmacologic Behavior Management Strategies

One of the difficulties of the practice of dentistry is being responsible for the highest quality of care for patients while often having to propose alternate solutions for a variety of reasons, which include financial concerns. Dental practitioners treating young children have the added responsibility of gaining their patient's cooperation to render the best treatment. Determinants that influence the development of a behavioral strategy for a young patient include disease status, the child's physical and mental development, parental characteristics, and provider personality and capabilities. Classic strategies--including a supportive office environment, "tell-show-do," successive approximation, distraction, behavior shaping, and retraining--must be matched to the characteristics of each child and family situation. Current cultural trends suggest that disciplinary forms of behavior management strategies--such as hand-over-mouth, physical restraint, and even voice control--are losing societal acceptance.