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Lal SML, Parekh S et al. Int J Paediatr Dent 2007; 17: 200–204

Children under 16 may require parental consent for dental treatment, but not all adults accompanying children are competent to give consent for treatment of the children concerned. In this study, a questionnaire was given to all persons accompanying children to a London dental hospital over a 6 month period, and 250 completed answers were obtained (response rate not stated).

Genders were equally represented among children, and mean age ranged from 1 to 19 yrs. Mothers were 72% of accompanying persons, and fathers, 20%. Full legal responsibility was possessed by 80% of fathers and all mothers. This gave a total of 12% of all accompanying persons who did not have parental responsibility. The authors suggest that efforts should be made to inform parents and dentists about such responsibility.