Student self-confidence in coping with uncooperative behaviours in paediatric dentistry

During paediatric dental treatment, non-collaboration and fearful reactions are frequently observed in the child client. The dentistry student must be prepared to cope with these reactions, particularly considering the importance of the relationship between dentists and patients in the promotion of oral health. The present study aimed to assess undergraduate dentistry students' perceptions of their ability to cope with non-collaboration situations in paediatric dentistry. A Likert-style questionnaire was used to analyse students' self-confidence levels, and proposed solutions to 10 problem situations the students would be likely to encounter were recorded. The questionnaire was administered to two undergraduate dentistry student groups from two different Brazilian Public Faculties, comprising 122 respondents. The self-confidence analysis indicated that it varied according to the extent of the child's reaction and the invasiveness of the procedure. Responses to the open-ended questions were categorised by solution proposed, and the analysis indicated that the most frequent responses were categorised as follows: tranquilising, explanation and restriction. Significant differences were found in tranquilising (with higher values for Faculty 2 than 1, and higher values for female students than male students at Faculty 2) and restriction (with higher values for female students compared with male student at both Faculties). The results and discussion focused on the aspects of training dentistry students' social and behavioural management skills.