Parental Expectation for Their Child Behavior in a Group of Children With Primary Dentition During Their First Dental Examination

Assessment of children based on their behavior is one of the most important skills for a pediatric dentist. The major aspect of child management in the dental care is managing dental anxiety and fear as it is considered to be the main barrier for successful completion of dental treatment.

Dental anxiety is a common problem which develops mostly in childhood and adolescence. It can have major implications for the child, dental team, and dental services. Providing treatment for the child with dental anxiety can be time-consuming, costly, and demanding for the clinician.

Previous studies have shown that a majority of children with dental anxiety present behavior management problems (BMP) in dental treatment situations. Evaluating a child's level of anxiety before pediatric treatment is the key, since this anxiety is closely related to their behavior during dental visits. Therefore, predicting the behavior is a basic requirement to reduce child's negative attitude during treatment.

Many behavior rating scales are available to assess and evaluate the behavior of a child on each dental visit. Frankl et al classified child's behavior into four groups according to the child's attitude and cooperation or lack of cooperation during dental treatment. This classification is known as Frankl behavior rating scale, which is one of the most reliable tools developed for behavior rating of children in dental sittings.