TÉCNICAS BÁSICAS PARA MANEJO DO COMPORTAMENTO INFANTIL NO ATENDIMENTO ODONTOLÓGICO: SCOPING REVIEW

Abstract

Introduction: To make pediatric dental care more comfortable and reduce anxiety, the dentist can use basic and advanced techniques for managing child behavior. Objective: Identify the basic behavior management techniques investigated in the last ten years and synthesize the results on efficacy in reducing dental fear/anxiety, improving behavior and acceptability. Sources of data: A search was conducted in PubMed, Scielo, Lilacs and Grey Literature Report, in October/2021. Observational and interventional studies on the use of basic behavior management techniques in the care of children up to 6 years old, and published in the last ten years, were included. Synthesis of data: Of a total of 756 references, 63 were read in full and 15 included in the scoping review. Distraction, positive reinforcement, voice control, tell-show-do, modeling, and presence/absence of parents were investigated in clinical
trials and cross-sectional studies. The techniques were effective in reducing dental anxiety and, most, well accepted by parents/caregivers. Voice control and presence/absence of parents were the least accepted. Controversial results on the effect on
behavior were observed in studies on the presence/absence of parents. Conclusions: Distraction was the most frequently investigated technique in the selected studies, following by positive reinforcement, presence of parents, voice control and tellshow-do. The basic techniques had positive results in reducing childhood anxiety
and accepting parents. Voice control and presence/absence of parents should be recommended with caution.