Dentists’ use of behavioural management techniques and their attitudes towards treating paediatric patients with dental anxiety

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between dentists’ education in treatment of dental anxiety (DA), dentists’ attitudes towards patients with DA and dentists’ use of BMT.

An anonymous questionnaire was sent electronically to 611 dentists in the Public Dental Service in Norway. Statistical evaluation was done using cross tabulation with Chi square and logistic regression analyses.

The response rate was 65 % (n = 391). About half of the respondents (53 %, n = 208) had followed postgraduate courses in treating patients with DA. The following were the most common attitudes towards treating young patients with DA: it feels like making a contribution (72 %, n = 286), it is difficult or tiresome (54 %, n = 215) and it is a positive challenge (51 %, n = 203). Dentists who had taken postgraduate courses in DA more often reported anxious patients as a positive challenge (60 vs. 42 %, p < 0.001) and were less reluctant to treat these patients (5 vs. 15 %, p = 0.002). The most frequently used BMT was tell-show-do (87 %, n = 340), followed by relaxation (35 %, n = 132), distraction (25 %, n = 94), systematic cognitive behaviour therapy (22 %, n = 84) and conscious sedation (18 %, n = 69). Dentists without postgraduate courses in DA used fewer techniques when treating these patients (OR 2.1, 95 % CI 1.3–3.3, p = 0.001) compared with dentists who had taken these courses.

Country of graduation and postgraduate courses in DA had a strong relationship with dentists’ use of BMT and dentists’ attitudes towards young patients with DA.