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Tsuchihashi N, Uehara N et al. Pediatr Dent J 2012; 22: 170–177

This study recruited 4-year-old patients. It compared ECG data measured on 11 who received passive restraint and 11 who were 'co-operative', when receiving dental treatment. The passive restraint comprised a net and was only used if other behavioural techniques were unsuccessful. Consent for the use of passive restraint was given by the parents. However, almost two thirds of them were unaware of this approach before the dental visit. At subsequent appointments when it was decided that passive restraint was no longer necessary, not unexpectedly, the mean sympathetic activity of the children was diminished. Although clearly these children lacked competence, there is a distinction between consent for treatment and consent for use of passive restraint by parents. Implications of Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child were not discussed.