Discretionary Parental Presence in the Dental Operatory: A Survey of Pediatric Dentists and Parents
Journal Title: Pediatrics and Neonatal Nursing – Open Journal - Year 2015, Vol 2, Issue 2
Abstract
Background: The decision to include or exclude parent presence in the dental operatory during a child’s visit has long been a controversial issue in pediatric dentistry. The intent of this paper was to explore the contemporary views of pediatric dentists and parents with respect to the rationale for which including or excluding parents has impact on children’s behavior and response to dental treatment. Methods: A printed mailed randomized survey of 1000 nationwide pediatric dentists was distributed. A second survey of parents was requested from offices which both included and excluded parents from the operatory to ascertain their opinions of how they anticipated their children would react and whether or not their inclusion in the dental operatory would impact favorably or not on their child’s acceptance of care. Results: In contrast to previous decades increasing interest and willingness of pediatric dentists to permit parent presence was found significant for children 30 months of age or older. Regardless of whether parents were permitted to be present in various offices, interest to be present among parents was found to be significantly increased for examinations and treatment. Where parent presence was permissible significant differences (p<0.001) were found between parents from pediatric dental practices that routinely allowed parents to be present compared to both dentists and parents from practices in which parents were excluded. Conclusions: For pre-school children, children lacking in cooperative potential, and those with a history of fearful or unpleasant previous experience, arbitrary exclusion of parents from the dental operatory appears increasingly perceived as unproductive and unwarranted. Trends appear to emerge in the direction of increasing willingness of pediatric dentists to permit parent presence for examination and treatment visits.
Authors and Affiliations
John E. Nathan
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP555812
- DOI 10.17140/PNNOJ-2-109
- Views 126
- Downloads 0
Pediatricians and Pediatric Nurses in the Delivery of Culturally Competent Care: A Scoping Literature Review to Investigate Progress and Issues around Culturally Diverse Care in Pediatrics
The demographics in the United States are rapidly changing. In 2012, 47.2% of the children who lived in the United Stated were of color. However, three out of four physicians identified themselves as White non-Hispanic a...
Pathogenesis and Management of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Premature Infants
Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) continues to be a major cause of preventable blindness in considerable parts of the world, including developing countries. The incidence of ROP varies with the level of neonatal care; ade...
Estimation of Zinc Levels in Children With Lower Respiratory Tract Infections: A Prospective Observational Study from India
Aims: To assess the serum zinc levels in children aged 2 months to 5 years admitted with Lower Respiratory Tract Infections and to study the association between low zinc levels and other known risk factors LRTI. Material...
Pediatric Exposures to Persistent Environmental Chemicals
Traditional risk factors are responsible for about 70% of the population attributable risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).1 Common environmental exposures are known to be responsible for some portion of the remaining 30...
Family-Centered Care: A Philosophy to be Developed
This article focuses on the philosophy of care such as family-centered care, which is considered beneficial, but their implementation in pediatric units can be clearly improved for the better. Throughout this work, the m...