Knowledge, Attitude And Practice Of Dental Practitioners Towards Behavioural Management Of An Uncooperative Patient In Dental Office

Abstract

Background and aim In the career of a dentist, they come across so many types of patients. Managing each patient's temperament and gaining co-operation and trust is the key to any dentist patient relationship. Inorder to practice from an empathetic point of view, any dentist should know how to deal with different behaviour patterns, which ultimately leads to success in treatment outcome greatly. Methodology A total of 80 registered dental practitioners participated in the study. A pre - tested, 14 item questionnaire was circulated among the dental practitioners. Only completely filled forms were taken in for analysis. Data was transferred and analyzed using SPSS software (Version 23) Descriptive statistics included frequency and percentage, A chi square test was done to analyze the association and a P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Final analysis was done using responses from 80 dental practitioners. On the whole, the knowledge, Attitude and practice regarding behavioural management was found to be satisfactory. On the contrary, the majority (67%) were unsure about managing an un co-operative patient. Majority of the dentists suggest counselling (97.2%) as a preventive measure. Almost 72.5% of them did not prefer to use nitrous oxide to sedate the patients. Conclusion This survey shows that the majority of dental practitioners were aware of patients perceptions, preferences and fear towards dental treatment. Hence existing curriculum should give more weightage in this context and regular continuing education programs should be organised.