Age and sex predilection of unmanageable Hispanic pediatric dental patients.

The Tell-Show-and-Do behavior management technique has been the most frequently utilized method to obtain cooperation from pediatric dental patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the age and sex predilection of unmanageable Hispanic pediatric patients. Five hundred sixteen normal Hispanic pediatric dental patients, ranging in age from three to fourteen years, were introduced to and received dental treatment using only the Tell-Show-and-Do, positive reinforcement, and voice-control behavior-management techniques. The majority of these patients (95.7 percent) were successfully managed. Cooperation was not obtained for twenty-two of these patients (4.3 percent) who ranged in age from three to six years. Uncooperative female patients, three to four years of age, outnumbered three-to-four-year-old uncooperative male patients, by approximately twofold. Explanations for the difference in the lack of cooperation between males and females included lack of parental presence in the operatory, sex of the patient, and maternal anxiety.