Abstract
Background. Dental anxiety is a significant cause of poor dental health. Because patients often prefer nonpharmacological interventions, the clinical effectiveness of clearly structured approaches is of particular interest. Methods. This prospective randomized controlled study compares a brief relaxation method (BR) with music distraction (MD) and with a control group (C). The authors randomly ...
Abstract
Background. Dental anxiety is a significant cause of poor dental health. Because patients often prefer nonpharmacological interventions, the clinical effectiveness of clearly structured approaches is of particular interest. Methods. This prospective randomized controlled study compares a brief relaxation method (BR) with music distraction (MD) and with a control group (C). The authors randomly assigned 90 patients with dental anxiety to BR, MD or C groups. They assessed the outcomes by means of the state anxiety subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results. Both BR and MD reduced dental anxiety significantly. In contrast, patients in the C group did not exhibit a significant change in their anxiety level. BR was significantly superior to MD. Stratification according to the patient's general level of dental anxiety revealed that BR did not have a clinically relevant effect on these subjects. Conclusions. BR appears to be a safe, economically sound and effective nonpharmacological approach to the short-term reduction of dental anxiety. Additional investigations are needed to validate these findings in a larger clinical trail and to determine the long-term effects of this intervention. Clinical Implications. Relaxation techniques are a pragmatic, effective and cost-saving method of facilitating dental treatment in anxious patients.
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