The child refused to eat breakfast this morning. This otherwise healthy child is hiding behind mom and refuses to let you examine her. This kind of scenario came to mind when we recently reviewed the core privileges. The issue was the elective use of physical restraint. The purpose of this Clinical Update is to review the use of physical restraint and related issues.
Physical restraints are one of the many behavior management tools used by pediatric dentists.
Types of restraint may include the assistant's hands, a mouth prop, a papoose board, or other object that restrains body motion. This Update reviews the use of restraints for treatment immobilization. The first issue is consent. Before the 1970's, the professional standard dictated to what end the patient needed to be informed. Procedures that were generally acceptable and routine to the professional community did not require informed consent.