Understanding the Child Patient

Most dental personnel can successfully manage child behavior in the dental setting with a basic understanding of child behavior and development. Most importantly one must understand children are not small adults, and children of different ages and abilities have different understandings of their environment. Depending on their stage of cognitive development, temperament, personality, fear of dentistry, demographics, ability to cope, degree of pain felt by the child, and parental attitudes, children will exhibit variations in behavior in the dental setting and during treatment.