Abstract
In order to investigate the actual conditions of the first introduction of low aged patients to dental treatment, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 117 of pediatric dental specialists who belongto the Japanese Society of Pediatric Dentistry. 56 specialists (47.9%) answered the questionnaire and the following results were obtained through analysis of the data of 434 low aged patients.1)The main reasons of the selection of the dental clinic were ①because it was a pediatric dental specialist's clinic (33.2%), ②referal from another clinic (32.3%), ③introduction from friends or family members (31.3%). These results indicated the important role of the pediatric dental specialist.2)Parents accepted the crying of the child patient to some extent (50.7%) and hoped that the child patients would be treated even though they may cry (44.7%). 4.6% of the parents did not want their child to be treated when they cry.3)69.8% of the parents hoped to stay in the treatment room from the beginning to the end of the treatment.4)Reaction of the child patients was categorized “restrained because the patient moves (34.6%)”,“well behaved (31.6%)”, “cooperative even though the patient may cry or move (19.1%)” and “treated without restrain even though the patient cries and moves (14.7%)”.5)The pediatric dental specialists reacted mostly (71.9%) by “practicing the treatment following the planned treatment schedule with necessary reaction to the patients”.6)The numbers of the staff necessary for the treatment decreased in proportion to the age of the patient with an average of 2.7.7)The average treatment time was the longest for the four years old patients (42.8 min) and the average for all age groups was 38.6 min. The treatment time for the patients who were restrained because of crying and moving was longer than the patients who behaved well.8)The parents highly evaluated the treatment and the explanation by the pediatric specialists, which indicated the satisfaction of the parents whose child had treatment by the pediatric specialists.
