Internal stress in children and parental attitude to dental treatment with passive restraint

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the internal stress in uncooperative children treated under passive restraint and the changes of it in later treatments under cooperative condition with no need of restraint. We also conducted questionnaire among parents to survey their opinion towards the treatment with restraining device. METHODS: The subjects for electrocardiogram (ECG) recording were the child patients who were referred to the university clinic by the primary care dentists. We recorded ECG of the patients during dental treatment and assessed the autonomic nervous activity as a physiological response to stress. The recordings from uncooperative children were continued at every visit until they became cooperative and no longer restrained. A questionnaire survey was conducted among parents who have experienced the use of the restraining device to their children. RESULTS: Though the sympathetic nerve activity, which elevates with internal stress, and the heart rate were relatively high under restraint in uncooperative children, both diminished in the later session when children became cooperative enough to remove restraint. The questionnaire survey demonstrated that most parents whose children underwent treatment with restraining device showed positive attitudes toward the use of it. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the experience of dental treatment with passive restraint would not necessarily be a traumatic event for children in a short term and parents would accept the necessity through the experience of the treatment in case urgent treatments are required.