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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
An Experimental Paradigm for the Prediction of Post-Operative Pain (PPOP)
Published on: January 27, 2010
Anxiety sensitivity as predictor of pain in patients undergoing restorative dental procedures
Ulrich Klages1, Simin Kianifard, Ozlem Ulusoy
1Department of Orthodontics, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany. klages@kieferortho.klinik.uni-mainz.de
Objectives:
The personality disposition to anxiety sensitivity refers to beliefs about negative consequences of bodily arousal. The concept has recently been successfully applied in research on chronic pain conditions. The present study investigated whether anxiety sensitivity interacts with dental fear to increase expected and experienced pain during routine dental treatment.
Methods:
Subjects were 97 patients undergoing dental procedures of excavation and filling. Anxiety dispositions were measured by the Anxiety Sensitivity Index and the Dental Anxiety Scale. Expected and experienced pain were assessed by affective and sensory verbal descriptor scales and a numerical rating scale measuring pain intensity.
Results:
Dentally fearful patients scoring high in anxiety sensitivity both expected and experienced more pain than low scorers did. Significant interactions were found predicting expected affective and intense pain and experienced pain intensity.
Conclusion:
The results lend support to the assumption that dentally fearful patients with a disposition to high anxiety sensitivity amplify pain anticipations when exposed to the critical situation. When dentally fearful patients are under treatment, their beliefs about negative consequences of bodily arousal may negatively influence their evaluation of treatment related pain.
