Stress reduction prior to oral surgery

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Oral Surgery
• Medical Procedures

Background:

• Pre-oral surgery anxiety is common.
• Stress reduction techniques may alleviate patient fear.
• Exploring non-pharmacological interventions is crucial for patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of stress reduction techniques before oral surgery.
• To compare the impact of general information, relaxation audio, and combined audio on patient anxiety.
• To measure physiological and self-reported stress indicators.

Main Methods:

• 100 patients were randomly assigned to four groups: information, relaxation tape, combined audio, or no intervention.
• Measurements included Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale, peripheral skin temperature, frontalis EMG, and blood pressure.
• Data collected pre- and post-intervention, with surgeon evaluation during procedures.

Main Results:

• A significant decrease in blood pressure was observed in experimental groups compared to the control.
• Group three (combined information and relaxation) showed notable reductions in anxiety, indicated by EMG and temperature.
• All patient groups reported some level of perceived relaxation.

Conclusions:

• Combining surgical information with relaxation audio is an effective method for reducing pre-oral surgery anxiety.
• Objective measures (EMG, temperature, blood pressure) and subjective reports indicate successful stress mitigation.
• These findings support the integration of psychological interventions in oral surgical protocols.