Personality development. Managing behavior of the cooperative preschool child.

Because communication is so important to the management of child behavior by the dentist, it must be remembered that the development of the child mentally, emotionally, socially, and cognitively is very important. The importance of the dentist's behavior management skills cannot be overemphasized as a determinant to the successful dental experience for the preschool child. This article provides an overview of behavior management domains for the preschool child, discusses the origin of misbehavior for seemingly "normal" children, and reviews the parental dimension of contemporary pediatric dentistry, and the dentist's role as an ontological coach.