Rectangular Collimation in Pediatric Dentistry (RCPD)

March 13, 2025 updated by: Varsha Lal, University of Toronto

Exploring Nudging Strategies to Encourage Rectangular Collimation in Pediatric Dental Practice

This project aims to investigate whether simple behavioural interventions, such as pictorial framing and traffic-light-color-coding, can positively influence pediatric dentists' decision-making in adopting rectangular collimation over round collimation for dental radiographs taken in clinical practice.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

  1. Introduction Dental radiographs are essential in diagnosing oral conditions in pediatric patients. Despite the availability of rectangular collimation as a recommended radiation safety measure, many pediatric dentists continue to use round collimation, which results in unnecessary radiation exposure. This study explores whether nudging strategies-such as pictorial framing and traffic-light color coding-can influence pediatric dentists' decision-making to encourage the adoption of rectangular collimation.

  2. Research Objectives

    This study aims to:

    Educate pediatric dentists on the benefits of rectangular collimation over round collimation.

    Assess current collimation practices among pediatric dentists. Evaluate whether behavioral nudging strategies influence pediatric dentists' willingness to adopt rectangular collimation.

  3. Study Hypothesis Null Hypothesis: Nudging strategies (pictorial framing and traffic-light color coding) have no impact on pediatric dentists' willingness to adopt rectangular collimation.

    Alternative Hypothesis: The implementation of nudging strategies positively influences pediatric dentists to use rectangular collimation.

  4. Methodology Study Design

    • A randomized, quantitative survey distributed online.
    • Three study groups:

1. Control Group (No nudging intervention) 2. Pictorial Framing Group (Visual aids illustrating collimation benefits) 3. Traffic-Light Color Coding Group (Decision cues using color-based risk indicators)

Participants Target Population: Pediatric dentists who are active members of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) in the U.S. and Canada.

Sample Size: As a one of its kind research project, the minimum for comparison is 30 participants in each sample group.

Data Collection A self-administered online survey conducted via REDCap. Survey distribution follows randomization of participants into the three groups.

Three e-mail invitations sent at two-week intervals over a six-week period.

Outcome Measures Primary Outcome: Change in willingness to adopt rectangular collimation. Secondary Outcome: Differences in responses across study groups.

Statistical Analysis Descriptive and comparative statistics using SPSS. Statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

5. Ethical Considerations Study approved by the University of Toronto Health Sciences Research Ethics Board.

Participants' responses are anonymous, and data security measures are in place.

6. Expected Impact This study will provide valuable insights into behavioral interventions for pediatric dentistry. If effective, nudging strategies could be incorporated into clinical guidelines to enhance radiation safety practices.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

6473

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ON M5T
        • Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • active members of American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry

Exclusion Criteria:

  • pre and post doctoral students and affiliated members

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control
Control Arm receives only didactic information and no nudges
Experimental: Pictorial Framing
Written information is supplemented with pictorial nudges.
Behavioral: Pictorial Framing
Visual aids illustrating collimation benefits
Other Names:
  • Behavioural
  • Prompt
  • Pictorial Nudging
  • Framing
Experimental: Traffic Light Color Coding
Written information is supplemented with traffic light colour coding nudges.
Behavioral: Traffic Light Color Coding Framing
Decision cues using color-based risk indicators
Other Names:
  • behavioral
  • Framing
  • Nudges
  • prompt

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Behavioral Change
Time Frame: Day 1
The primary outcome of this study is the change in pediatric dentists' reported willingness to adopt rectangular collimation based on the nudging strategies employed. Specifically, the study will measure whether pictorial framing and traffic-light-color-coding influence the likelihood of adopting rectangular collimation in clinical practice. Responses collected in 10 point visual analog scale will be compared for effectiveness of each nudging strategy individually in promoting behavior change and mean scores will be compared across all groups.
Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Toronto

Investigators

  • Study Director: Hashim Nainar, Dentist, University of Toronto

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

March 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 4, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 13, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 13, 2025

Last Verified

March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 47738

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

It does not abide by the requirements laid out by American Academy of Pedaitric Dentistry, which provided the participant list. Individual partipants are not consenting to sharing of individual data.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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