Psychology Flashcards
Which individual factors are associated with child referrals to paediatric dentists?
- Fear
- Poor behaviour management
- (NOT complex dentition)
What aspects of (4) child development should a dentist be familiar with?
Give a dentally relevant example for each:
Physical - maturation of body structures i.e. teeth
Motor - ability to brush teeth
Cognitive - growth of intellectual functionality i.e. understanding of pain and ability to communicate & logical thinking
Social development - learning to deal with others i.e. appearace is important (8yrs +)
How might nature influence a child’s oral health?
- Genetics affect normal developement (tooth eruption)
- Genetic risk factors conribute to disease (i.e. variants of IRF6 gene contribute to syndromic and non-syndromic forms of cleft lip and palate)
How might nurture influence a childs oral health?
- Environment facilities develop if appropriate (i.e. deprived/enriched - malnourished = weaker teeth as not so many minerals or poor diet more likely to have caries)
- Environment changes according to age, stage, culture, socioeconomic status
- Sensitive periods - optimal times for specific aspects of development (i.e. dont hear speach until 2/3 y/o they can never pick up language properly)
- Language
What techniques would you use to manage a “clingy” 3 y/o who needs dental treatment?
Keep them sat on parents lap to look into their mouth (AVOID SEPERATING THE CHILD FROM THE CARER)
Let the child take the initiative (set the pace)
Forced choice
Clear goals for visit and let them go once gone!
Name 3 ways in which children learn:
- Classical conditioning (Pavlov)
- Operant conditioning (Cats box and lever)
- Social learning (watchign what other people do = should practice the behaviour you want them to do)
Can you think of ways the 3 ways in which children learn may influence a childs behaviour in a dental surgery?
Refer to Cognition and dentistry lecture Yr 2
How might you use developmental psychology to manage a disruptive four year old who is seeking treatment for pain?
Role play - tell, show do
Can usually seperate from parents without distress
Forced choice options (want to get own way = egocentricism)
Name and describe five behavioural management techniqes that a paediatric dentist might use to manage his/her patients:
- Reinforcement - +ve reinforcement and rewards
- Desensitisation - tell-show-do, detailed explanations, distraction, euphenism, modelling
- Communication - stop signals, non-verbal communication (hand holding)
- Aversion - voice control
- Pharmacology - sedation
How can you explain the social patterning of extractions for caries as described by Moles and Ashley (2009)?
Increased in more deprived areas
Increased over time (i.e. each year) = more marked in the more deprived areas due to the social inequalities of health
Define Child Abuse:
When an adult harms a child or young person under the age of 18
List the risk factors for child abuse from the perspective of an abused child:
- Younger children more vulnerable to physical abuse and neglect (at least 10% of all abuse involves children < 1 y/o)
- Children with disabilities
- Social factors: povert, social isolation, poor housing and unemployment
- Children who are more definant or may be unresponsive, hyperactive, irritable, unwell, look different (premature babies)
List the risk factors for child abuse from the perspective of the abuser:
- Young or single parents
- Parents with learning disabilities
- Parents with childhood trauma
- Parents with drug or alcohol abuse or mental illness
- Those with stronger ohsyiological reactions to all social signals
- Those who themselves were abused/neglected (30%) = interpret distress as criticism/rejection
What procedure would you follow if you suspected that a child patient of yours was being abused?
- Speak to supervisor
- Assess likelihood of harm (i.e. ask 3/4 times and see if story changes)
- (usually) explain concerns to child/parent
- discuss with appropriate colleague
- refer to social services (back up in writing within 48 hours)
What are the 3 dimensions of pain?
Complex
Multidimensional (sensory, affect and cognitive)
Subjective
Why is it important for dentists to be able to communicate well in writing?
Need to be able to write:
Prescriptions
Documentation
Referrals
Patient info documents
Essays
Exam papers
Why can written communication be difficult?
- No personal interaction (misunderstanding in tone, context and paralanguage etc. because cannot see the other person)
- Words do not have a single fixed meaning (each read will construct a different meaning)
- Communication is interactive and dynamic (even when written)
Which factors are important for effective written communication?
- Readability
- Comprehensibility = lexical items (words, phrases), syntax (sentence structure) & communicative effectiveness
What are the critical points for writing a prescription?
- Clear and unambiguous
- Approved drug name
- No abbreviations
- Care with IVs
- Care with units
- Legal
- Is it weight/ BSA related dosing?
What are the critical points for writing a referral letter?
- GMP’s details
- Medical History
- Dental history
- Justification of GA
- Radiographs sent in
- Treatment plan
- Referrers detils
- Reason for reference
What are the critical points for writing patient notes?
- Diagnosis
- Medical history details
- Corrections signed and dated
- Legible
- Singature/name/position of beep
- Next of Kin
- Allergies
What are the arguments for/against written patient info leaflets?
:) for…
Patients want info about healthcare
Better communication = improved satisfaction
Leaflets can be referred to after the event
:( against…
The public ignores printed literature on health
Leaflets may be difficult to understand
n.b. = better accepted if given as ‘gift’ rather than prescripton & should reflect what is already discussed
Given that the average reading age is approx 12 years, what points are important in providing written info for the “man on the street”?
- Font (legible typesize, avoid bold and italics & avoid unneccessary CAPITALS = SHOUTING)
- Language (clear and unambiguous, short words and sentences, avoid unneccessary words, avoid passive voice,
- Relevance to reader (lay language & appropriate for age group -> interests, be personal)
- Accurate and concurrent
