Child patient behavior: a new perspective

All behavior depends on responses of the nervous system (Shepherd 1988). Alkon demonstrated physical changes in the nervous systems of Hermissenda crassicornis and rabbits at the molecular level following behavioral conditioning. This physical change resulted in a reduced flow of potassium ions across the neuronal cell membrane for some time, with resultant enhanced excitability during this period. It is suggested that behavioral deterioration in children during sequential dental visits might be the result of a reduced potassium ion flow across the neuronal cell membrane, with resultant enhanced excitability during this period. Alkon also reported that in a "conditioned" stimulus, information flows along a "collateral pathway" formed in the course of the learning experience. It is hypothesized that behavioral improvement in children following positive dental experiences (model learning and desensitization) may be due to the information of the "conditioned" dental stimulus flowing along a "collateral pathway" formed in the course of the learning experience.