Acupuncture applied as a method of analgesia for oral surgery with particular reference to dental operations

The purpose of the first, experimental part of this work was an attempt to elaborate a simple method of analgesia by means of acupuncture for oral surgical procedures in out-patients. The experiments were carried out on 60 volunteers using various points and types of stimulation. Analgesia was obtained in 78.3% of cases but only in very small areas which could make possible procedures on premolar and molar teeth or in the vicinity of palatine tonsils. Stimulation with rectangular, alternating-current impulses applied through the needles was found to be most effective. The volunteers were divided into two groups--those in group I were told in advance what the procedure would be, these in group II were not. Similar results obtained in both groups would rule out the effects of suggestion or hypnosis as the mechanism of acupuncture. In the 2nd part of this work the method was applied in 10 patients undergoing dental surgery and sufficient analgesia was achieved in 7 cases. The unreliability of the method, the length of time necessary for induction of analgesia and the very small area of analgesia make this method unsuitable for widespread use in outpatient practice.