Behavior and oral health

Abstract

This project Behavior and oral health is intended to widen interchange between psychology and dentistry through systematic approaches concerning scientific investigation. The aim of the field, Children development and health promotion, is to assess children development based on patterns of normality, deficits, undernourishment, habit acquisition, overweight, and obesity, as well as to explore biopsychosocial aspects involved in regular breastfeeding or early weaning. New projects are aimed at identifying specific variables for a better understanding of mother/child relationship. The method involves psychological assessment instruments, standardized or not, and analysis of verbal reports by mothers interviewed during assessment. Results obtained to date suggest that participants were provided with protection and psychological benefits. The purpose of the field Psychosocial factors in children under dental treatment is to analyze the efficacy of psychological approaches in promoting adaptation to dental treatment, focusing on a decrease in stress levels and an increase in children's treatment cooperation. Functional analysis of children's and students' repertoire will be carried out. At the same time students and professional's perception concerning the behavior of handicapped or non handicapped dental patients will be studied. Systematic direct observation is the basic method to describe and analyze the interaction dentist-child-mother. This procedure has established conditions for functional analysis of patients and children's behavior and showed planned or accidental effects of aversive control. Data have indicated important clues about emotional learning as well as about coping repertoires of dental patients submitted to adverse health treatment conditions. New studies, using basically the same methodology, including some technological refinements may enlarge the observation of the interaction dentist-child-mother and also the perception of behavior modifications in long or short term The learning process data obtained under health treatment situation might produce child development scientific knowledge for training students and parents about how to deal with behaviors in difficult treatment situations. Projects like Behavior and oral health concerned with the acquisition of scientific information are useful considering the whole health area. It creates possibilities of interchanging experiences among different areas what has been an infrequent enterprise. (AU)