Attitudes of pediatric dentists toward parental presence during dental treatment of children.

Background: This study was performed to examine the current attitudes of pediatric dentists in the United States toward the presence of parents in the dental operatory during dental treatment for their children.

Methods: E-mail letters were sent to the 1516 American pediatric dentists listed in the directory of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Respondents were directed to follow a hyperlink provided in the e-mail letter to a website containing survey questions. Answers were directly submitted via the internet into a database supported by the New Jersey Dental School.

Results: 905 acceptable surveys were received (60% response rate). Most practitioners (74%) generally allowed parental presence, although a majority (58%) felt that children would be less cooperative in the presence of parents. Initial examination had the highest frequency of parental presence allowed, whereas sedation had the lowest. When practitioners considered whether to allow parental presence, age and behavior were the two most important factors reported. Some demographic factors that had an effect on parental presence policy were region of the country (more parental presence was allowed in the Northeast and West), area of practice (more parental presence was allowed in suburban or urban areas), and type of practice (solo practitioners were more likely to exclude parents). Most practitioners reported a recent change to allow more parental presence because of changes in the expectation of parents (67%), and legal issues (66%).

Conclusions: Most American pediatric dentists allow parents in the dental operatory most of the time that children receive dental treatment.

Clinical Implications: Practitioners might wish to follow the findings of this study and allow parents into the treatment operatory whenever children receive dental treatment.