Modifications of behavior management strategies pre- and post-covid-19 scenario: A survey among pediatric dentists.

Background: COVID-19 presented a unique scenario among children, specifically all over the world. The children had decrease outdoors activities and learning times, increased use of electronic gadgets and changes in sleep patterns. These altered behavior patterns of children directly influenced their behavior in the dental operatory. This coupled with the stringent protocols of COVID-19, made the behavior management of children a tedious task. However, as they say that necessity is the mother of all inventions, the pediatric dentist took this time to evaluate newer methods of behavior management and modified old strategies with newer modifications.

Aim: The main aim of this study was to observe the modifications in behavior management strategies among pediatric dentists in the post-COVID-19 era while managing the child in dental operatory.

Materials and methods: Four hundred pediatric dentists were mailed a questionnaire consisting of 24 open and closed-ended questions consisting of personal data, professional information, and questions regarding various behavior management techniques used by them in pre- and post-COVID-19 era. Data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 26.0, IBM, and a comparison of frequencies of categories of variables with groups was made using Chi-Square test and McNemar test.

Results: The results showed that there were statistically highly significant changes in behavior management strategies pre- and post-COVID-19 scenario with P < 0.01.

Conclusion: Conventional techniques like Tell-Show-Do were popular in both pre- and post-COVID-19 times with minor modifications in approach, but conscious sedation and distraction techniques were evaluated to have gained more popularity in the post-COVID-19 times along with exploration of new novel techniques.