Abstract
The changes in the behavior of children in relation to dental procedures were investigated from the clinical records of the behavior of children during dental treatment rated by Frankl's Behavior Rating Scale with respect to 166 subjects, who were 2 to 5 years of age and had had no previous dental experience.
The results obtained were as follows:
1. The number of children who were uncooperative at the first visit for an examination decreased among the upper age groups. The number of those who were cooperative at the first visit, but became uncooperative during the following dental treatments, was greater in the age group of 2 to 4. Furthermore, the period when these cooperative children turned into uncooperative ones was mostly at the time when the first dental treatment was performed. Child patients of the emergency group, who received actual dental treatment at the first visit tended to be cooperative, in comparison with regular child patients who were given only the examination procedures at the first visit and were treated from the second visit. Also the emergency group needed longer time to become cooperative, especially between the ages of 2 to 3.
2. The number of children who appeared to become uncooperative due to an injection for local anesthesia increased in the upper age groups. These children also needed longer time to become cooperative for all age groups.
The results obtained in this study generally agree with the previous articles, in spite of the lack of objectiveness in rating the behavior of children. It may be concluded, therefore, that the clinical and subjective evaluation of the behavior of children in the way performed in this study could be useful in managing the child patient during pedodontic treatment.
