Reducing anxiety in new dental patients by means of leaflets

Fifty adults, consecutive attenders at a dentist who was new to them, were selected. They completed the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory before and after they had read one of two different leaflets in the waiting room. One, the informative leaflet, included information about pain control and stop signals. A comparison leaflet did not include this information but acknowledged, sympathetically, that many people are nervous of dental treatment. The leaflet also provided some explanations for that fear. Both leaflets were designed, according to published evidence, to be easily read and understood. The layout drew attention to the most important points. State Anxiety decreased significantly only in the patients who read the informative leaflet (P < 0.01). This occurred before the patients met their new dentist. Those patients given the informative leaflet rated it as much more helpful than those given the comparison leaflet (P = 0.007).