Fingerprints as an index for investigating cooperation by children in dentistry: a pilot study

Behavioral management and patient cooperation are very important in pediatric dentistry. Some studies have indicated that individual behavior can vary in terms of fingerprint patterns (loop, whorl, and arch). Therefore, fingerprint patterns might help to predict the extent of cooperation by children during dental procedures. The present study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between fingerprint patterns and cooperation by children. In this pilot investigation, 51 children aged 3-6 years were examined. The children meeting the inclusion criteria in the first visit were scheduled for a dental procedure in the second visit. Another examiner assessed children's behavior during the dental procedure according to the designed questionnaire and based on the Frankl scale. A third examiner, along with the second examiner, randomly evaluated the children's behavior to determine the inter-examiner agreement. The subjects were categorized as cooperative or uncooperative during dental procedures, according to the Frankel questionnaire. The fingerprints of all subjects were recorded, and the data were compared with SPSS 21 using the chi-squared test at a significance level of P < 0.05. The uncooperative and cooperative groups consisted of 20 and 31 children, respectively. The main fingerprint pattern in the uncooperative children was the whorl; while in the cooperative group, it was the loop. This difference in the fingerprint effect was significant between the groups (P = 0.01). The arch type exhibited the minimum frequency and was not significantly different between the groups. The current findings revealed a relationship between fingerprint type and children's behavior during dental treatment.