Ethical concerns tied with use of Papoose board for kids during dental procedures: Study

The Results of the study are as follows:

• Two perspectives emerged among participants.
• Some explained that the papoose board calmed their children, helped the dentist to complete the procedures, and made their experience less stressful.
• For others, the papoose board was a horrible and traumatizing experience, leading to feelings of guilt toward their children.
• They expressed anger toward the dentists for not allowing them enough time to decide and for imposing use of the device.

Thus, the researchers concluded that study raises serious ethical concerns about this practice. We believe that using a papoose board should remain an extraordinary measure and, more generally, that dental professionals should reflect on the place of children and their families in clinical encounters.

The findings of this study should encourage policy makers, dental professionals and ethicists to consider the following points: 1) the traumatizing experiences described by parents raise serious ethical concerns about the use of papoose boards; 2) the dental profession should reflect on the place of children and their families in the clinical encounter and grapple with the importance of consent and how to ensure consent in encounters involving children and their parents.

Reference:

Physical Constraint in Pediatric Dentistry: The Lived Experience of Parents by P Malik et al. published in the JDR Clinical & Translational Research

https://doi.org/10.1177/23800844211041952