Riyadh-Based, Saudi Private Pedodontists: The Case For Attitude Literature Review Sample

Pedodontics has witnessed dramatic changes in practices and attitudes in recent decades. Abushal and Adenubi (2000) found that the use of behavior management techniques, such as telling, showing, and doing, as well as positive reinforcement and voice control, were highly utilized by dentists in Saudi Arabia, thus, Feigal (2001) explained that there is an increasing need among would-be dentist to get quality medical education, acquire excellent communication skills, and show competency in cross-cultural competence and behavior management approaches for a child-friendly pedodontic practice.
Aside from having the knowledge and compassion in doing their job is also a key factor in delivering quality service to patients. The study of Al Sarheed, Bedi and Hunt (2001) attempted to explore the attitudes of dentists, working in Riyadh, toward people with a sensory impairment (SI). Among the 600 dentists (response rate, 73.7%) working in Riyadh who participated in the study, the result implied that dentists show positive attitude toward people with SI.
As Mouradian (2001) puts is, children's oral health care is the shared moral responsibility of dental and other professionals working with children, parents, and society, thus, it is necessary that dental schools and training centers should put emphasis on honing would-be oral health professionals and instill in them the passion train future professionals to meet children's needs. Thus, Edelstein (2002) concluded that enhanced training of health care providers is vital for children enduring life experiences that have been compromised by dental and oral diseases, which are actually preventable.
Good behavioral management techniques are also essential for providing effective child dental treatment. Crossley and Joshi (2002) observed that pediatric dentists prefer less 'restraining' methods of behavioral management. Parental accompaniment in the dental operations and the passion to work in participation with parents were also found to facilitate in the child's good behavior and more effective dental treatment.
The study of Seale and Casamissimo (2003), meanwhile, aimed at determining the general practitioners' practice patterns involving child patients in the United States. They found that while majority of general practitioners treat children, there are still groups of children for whom access to dental care is a problem. Thus, it is inferred that very young children, children with high levels of caries and Medicaid-covered children have difficulty finding dental care in the general practice community.
The study of Casamassimo, and Ruehs (2004) also supported the claim of Thierer and Meyerowitz, that dentists with hands-on educational experiences in dental schools with children with special health care needs were less likely to consider level of disability and patient behavior as hindrance to care. They were more likely to desire additional education in care of these patients.
Hallberg, Strandmark and Klingberg (2004) found that dental treatment for children with disabilities significantly differ, with implication on the risk for inequalities in treatment, as well as in oral health. However, Thierer and Meyerowitz (2005) posited that more education and training in special care dentistry could lead to better-educated dentists and the desired result of better access to care for special needs patients.
Tsai, Kung, Chiang & Chang (2007) believed that rewards program significantly increased the willingness of most hospital-base dentists to treat the severely disabled patients although the effect of incentive to their income was limited.
The need for a different approach to child oral care cannot be overemphasized since studies show a set of pre-requisites which are becoming increasingly essential in current practices including, but are not limited to, medical education, healthcare management, behaviors and perceptions and parental accompaniment. Rich, Straffon &  Inglehart (2006) explained that educational experiences concerning the treatment of pediatric dental patients helps shape future dental care providers’ attitudes and professional behavior. Those with lack of access to dental care for children will have to carefully evaluate undergraduate dental curricula to ensure that future dental care providers receive sufficient educational and especially clinical experiences concerning the treatment of child patients. providersHowever, it is saddening to note that some pedodontists’ knowledge are shaped more by lack of knowledge by which care is catered in behaviorally poor practices, as observed by Oredugba & Sanu (2006).
Dailey, et al. (2007) posited that education is just one of many influences on clinical practice over the whole of a clinician's career and that a gradual change in clinical practice is influenced by the personal experience of dentists treating children. Furthermore, Massey, et al. (2008) for example posited advanced general dentistry residents have acquired adequate clinical exposure to pediatric patients and provide much-needed services to uninsured, underinsured, and underserved people. Program directors, meanwhile, indicated strong attitudinal support for teaching residents many components of pediatric oral health care, although most directors have concerns over increasing didactic hours spent on pediatric oral health due to already crowded curricula.
As noted, pedodontic practices are shaped in recent decades by increasing non-medical considerations. Of particular note are dental education, patient behavior management strategies, communication skills and cross-cultural competency. Given varied practices across not only countries but also areas, surveys and/or questionnaires in different practice areas indicate different outcomes. One essential investigation area, surveys and /or questionnaires show, are practitioners' attitudes towards child dental care. These attitudes – decidedly conditioned not only by general, professional practice(s) in one area of concern but also by cultural aspects – are shown to respond to different country-specific influences.
Surveys conducted, for example, in USA, Taiwan, UK and Nigeria show different pedodontic attitudes. U.S., nation-wide surveys show an increasing need for public education about children's dental care as well as enhanced education and training not only for pedodontists but also for all oral healthcare.
In conclusion, attitudes of pedodontists across different professional practices and in different countries show similar patterns. Although non-identical, attitudes in different practices come largely in response to dramatic changes in global pedodontic practices. The practices are increasingly catering for medical education, communication skills, cross-cultural competence and behavior management requirements. Riyadh-based, Saudi private practices follow similar patterns as indicated by available surveys and/or studies. Overall, Riyadh-based, Saudi pedodontists respond positively to children healthcare. However, lack of specific recommendations remains a major gap in catering for dental healthcare for children as practiced by private pedodontists in Riyadh in particular and in Saudi Arabia at large. More in-depth surveys and studies are required to address gaps in dental healthcare administration for children covering areas of medical education, communication skills and behavior management. Probably, a certain focus should be laid on cross-cultural competency in catering for dental healthcare services for children in Saudi Arabia given kingdom's rapidly changing demography and increasing presence of foreign workers, permanent and provisional, whose needs require more cultural sensitivity and, not least, further non-medical education.

References

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