Analysis of dental anxiety levels in patients receiving prosthodontic care and effectiveness of music therapy in reducing dental anxiety - a clinical study

Objectives: There is a certain degree of dental anxiety that exists in patients receiving prosthodontic treatment. This may be through their previous dental experience or as a result of perceptions and negative beliefs. This study evaluates
• Subjective and objective measures for recording dental anxiety
• Effectiveness of music as a method of reducing dental anxiety in patients receiving prosthodontic care.
Method: Fifty patients, 20-70yrs were selected to receive prosthodontic treatment. To evaluate for subjective level of dental anxiety, a pre-treatment questionnaire based on Corah’s dental anxiety scale was filled in by patients and to evaluate objective parameters, patient’s blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation levels were measured pre-treatment, during treatment without music therapy and during treatment with music therapy.
Results: The mean total anxiety scale for 50 patients Male 24 and female 26 that were treated was 7.98 (SD= 3.5). Of the 50 patients, 16% had moderate dental anxiety, 10% had high anxiety and 4% had severe anxiety. Multiple comparison Bonferroni test showed a significant difference (p0.05) for blood pressure and heart rate took pre-treatment and during treatment with music therapy.
Conclusion: The study highlighted, dental anxiety exists in patients receiving prosthodontic care and that music therapy is an easy, economical and effective aid in reducing dental anxiety levels during prosthodontic treatment.