Behavior management in pediatric dentistry in children aged two to eight years: Systematic review.

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47990/s6tnjt22

Keywords:

dental fear, dental anxiety, Tell-show-do, audio-visual distraction, pediatric dentistry

Abstract

Introduction: Dental anxiety and fear are common situations in pediatric dental consultations and can affect the development of dental treatment. Therefore, establishing a good relationship of trust between the dentist and the child is crucial to maintain the child's cooperation. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of different strategies and techniques used in managing the behavior of pediatric dental patients aged two to eight years who present fear and anxiety. Materials and methods: A systematic review was conducted following the recommendations of the PRISMA guidelines. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (RoB 2) version 2 was used to assess the risk of bias in randomized trials. Results: Nine articles were included. The techniques used include tell-show-do (TDD), auditory distraction (AD), audiovisual distraction (AVD), mobile phone game distraction (MTG), positive reinforcement, voice control, passive parental presence, active parental presence, conscious sedation, bubble breathing play therapy (BBPPT), and tell-play-do (TPD). The most used technique is tell-show-do, and although it is effective, studies demonstrate the superiority of other techniques such as audiovisual distraction and tell-play-do. Conclusions: When several strategies are combined, there may be a synergistic effect that further reduces levels of dental fear and anxiety in this population.

References

1. Figueredo A, Orozco G. Abordaje conductual odontopediátrico según las perspectivas teóricas cognitivas y psicosociales del desarrollo del niño. ODOUS CIENTÍFICA. 2020;21(2):187-200. https://servicio.bc.uc.edu.ve/odontologia/revista/vol21n2/art07.pdf

2. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Behavior Guidance for the Pediatric Dental Patient. En: The Reference Manual of Pediatric Dentistry. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry; 2024:358-78.

3. Hegde T, Bhavyashri P, Vasthare R, Karthik M, Munoli R. Evaluation of Parental Dental Fear and Anxiety (DFA) on Adolescent Dental Treatment: A Narrative review. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent. 2022;12(1):12-9. https://doi.org/10.4103/jispcd.jispcd_261_21

4. Nydell Helkimo A, Rolander B, Koch G. Dental fear in school children and young adults attending public dental health care: prevalence and relationship to gender, oral disease and dental treatment; trends over 40 years. BMC Oral Health. 2022;22(1):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-022-02166-6

5. Alshuaibi AF, Aldarwish M, Almulhim AN, Lele GS, Sanikommu S, Raghunath RG. Prevalence of Dental Fear and Anxiety and Its Triggering Factors in the Dental Office among School-going Children in Al Ahsa. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2021;14(2):286-92. https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1925

6. Grisolia BM, Dos Santos APP, Dhyppolito IM, Buchanan H, Hill K, Oliveira BH. Prevalence of dental anxiety in children and adolescents globally: A systematic review with meta-analyses. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2021;31(2):168-83. https://doi.org/10.1111/ipd.12712

7. Petrović D, Cicvarić O, Šimunović-Erpušina M, et al. The Role of Family Factors in the Development of Dental Anxiety in Children. Medicina (Kaunas). 2024;60(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina60010180

8. Shah HA, Nanjunda Swamy K V, Kulkarni S, Choubey S. Evaluation of dental anxiety and hemodynamic changes (Sympatho-Adrenal Response) during various dental procedures using smartphone applications v/s traditional behaviour management techniques in pediatric patients. Int J Appl Res. 2017;3(5):429-33.

9. Cianetti S, Lombardo G, Lupatelli E, et al. Dental fear/anxiety among children and adolescents. A systematic review. Eur J Paediatr Dent. 2017;18(2):121-30. https://doi.org/10.23804/ejpd.2017.18.02.07

10. Bagher SM, Felemban OM, Alsabbagh GA, Aljuaid NA. The Effect of Using a Camouflaged Dental Syringe on Children’s Anxiety and Behavioral Pain. Cureus. 2023;15(12): e50023. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.50023

11. Klatchoian D, Noronha J, de Toledo O. Adaptación del comportamiento del paciente odontopediátrico. En: Andrade M, Barbosa P, eds. Manual de referencia para procedimientos clínicos en odontopediatría. 2da ed. Santos; 2017:25-36.

12. Asociación Latinoamericana de Pediatría. Manual de referencia para procedimientos clínicos en odontopediatría. 2da ed. (Andrade M, Barbosa P, eds.). Santos; 2017.

13. Greeshma SG, George S, Anandaraj S, et al. Comparative Evaluation of the efficacy of virtual reality distraction, audio distraction and tell-show-do techniques in reducing the anxiety level of pediatric dental patients: an in vivo study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2021;14(S2): S173-8. https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10005-2106

14. James J, Retnakumari N, Vadakkepurayil K, Thekkeveetil AK, Tom A. Effectiveness of aromatherapy and music distraction in managing pediatric dental anxiety: A comparative study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2021;14(2):249-53. https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1911

15. Appukuttan DP. Strategies to manage patients with dental anxiety and dental phobia: Literature review. Clin Cosmet Investig Dent. 2016;8:35-50. https://doi.org/10.2147/ccide.s63626

16. Thakkar TK, Naik SN, Dixit UB. Assessment of dental anxiety in children between 5 and 10 years of age in the presence of a therapy dog: a randomized controlled clinical study. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent Off J Eur Acad Paediatr Dent. 2021;22(3):459-67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-020-00583-1

17. Ashley P, Anand P, Andersson K. Best clinical practice guidance for conscious sedation of children undergoing dental treatment: an EAPD policy document. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2021;22(6):989–1002. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-021-00660-z

18. Page MJ, Moher D, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffman TC, Mulrow CD, et al. PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ. 2021;372:n160. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n160

19. Higgins JPT, Savović J, Page MJ, Elbers RG, Sterne JAC. Assessing risk of bias in a randomized trial. En: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, et al., eds. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions; 2019:205-28. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119536604.ch8

20. Sterne JAC, Savović J, Page MJ, et al. RoB 2: a revised tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials. BMJ. 2019;366:l4898. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4898

21. Janiani P, Gurunathan D, Nuvvula S. Influence of temperament on the acceptance of two conscious sedation techniques in toddlers undergoing dental treatment: A randomised cross over trial. Pain Res Manag. 2023;2023(Aug):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6655628

22. AlDhelai TA, Khalil AM, Elhamouly Y, Dowidar KML. Influence of active versus passive parental presence on the behavior of preschoolers with different intelligence levels in the dental operatory: a randomized controlled clinical trial. BMC Oral Health. 2021;21(1):420. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-021-01781-z

23. Alsaadoon AM, Sulimany AM, Hamdan HM, Murshid EZ. The use of a dental storybook as a dental anxiety reduction medium among pediatric patients: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Child (Basel, Switzerland). 2022;9(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030328

24. Pande P, Rana V, Srivastava N, Kaushik N. Effectiveness of different behavior guidance techniques in managing children with negative behavior in a dental setting: A randomized control study. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent. 2020;38(3):259-65. https://doi.org/10.4103/jisppd.jisppd_342_20

25. Azher U, Srinath SK, Nayak M. Effectiveness of bubble breath play therapy in the dental management of anxious children: A pilot study. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2020;21(1):17-21. https://www.thejcdp.com/doi/pdf/10.5005/jp-journals-10024-2741

26. Khandelwal D, Kalra N, Tyagi R, Khatri A, Gupta K. Control of anxiety in pediatric patients using “tell show do” method and audiovisual distraction. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2018;19(9):1058-64. https://www.thejcdp.com/doi/JCDP/pdf/10.5005/jp-journals-10024-2381

27. Vishwakarma AP, Bondarde PA, Patil SB, Dodamani AS, Vishwakarma PY, Mujawar SA. Effectiveness of two different behavioral modification techniques among 5-7-year-old children: A randomized controlled trial. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent. 2017;35(2):143-9. https://doi.org/10.4103/jisppd.jisppd_257_16

28. Song J-S, Chung H-C, Sohn S, Kim Y-J. Effects of psychological behaviour management programme on dental fear and anxiety in children: A randomised controlled clinical trial. Eur J Paediatr Dent. 2020;21(4):287-91. https://doi.org/10.23804/ejpd.2020.21.04.6

29. Boka V, Arapostathis K, Charitoudis G, Veerkamp J, van Loveren C, Kotsanos N. A study of parental presence/absence technique for child dental behaviour management. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2017;18(6):405–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-017-0313-9

30. Asl Aminabadi N, Shokravi M, Jamali Z, Shirazi S. barriers and drawbacks of the assessment of dental fear, dental anxiety and dental phobia in children: A critical literature review. J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2017;41(6):399-423. https://doi.org/10.17796/1053-4628-41.6.1

31. Kroniņa L, Rasčevska M, Care R. Psychosocial factors correlated with children’s dental anxiety. Stomatologija. 2017;19(3):84-90. https://sbdmj.lsmuni.lt/173/173-03.pdf

32. Carrillo-Díaz M, Migueláñez-Medrán BC, Nieto-Moraleda C, Romero-Maroto M, González-Olmo MJ. How can we reduce dental fear in children? The importance of the first dental visit. Children. 2021;8(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/children8121167

33. Ahuja S, Gandhi K, Malhotra R, Kapoor R, Maywad S, Datta G. Assessment of the effect of parental presence in dental operatory on the behavior of children aged 4-7 years. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent. 2018;36(2):167-72. https://doi.org/10.4103/jisppd.jisppd_238_17

34. Passos De Luca M, Massignan C, Bolan M, et al. Does the presence of parents in the dental operatory room influence children’s behaviour, anxiety and fear during their dental treatment? A systematic review. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2021;31(3):318-36. https://doi.org/10.1111/ipd.12762

35. Vasiliki B, Konstantinos A, Vassilis K, Nikolaos K, van Loveren C, Jaap V. The effect of parental presence on the child’s perception and co-operation during dental treatment. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent Off J Eur Acad Paediatr Dent. 2016;17(5):381-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-016-0241-0

Published

2026-05-21

Issue

Section

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

How to Cite

Behavior management in pediatric dentistry in children aged two to eight years: Systematic review. (2026). Latin American Pediatric Dentistry Journal, 16. https://doi.org/10.47990/s6tnjt22