Aromatherapy with essential oils to reduce anxiety, pain, and discomfort during in-office dental procedures: A scoping review

IF 5.8 2区医学 Q1 DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE

Journal of dentistry Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-19 DOI:10.1016/j.jdent.2026.106515

Reinaldo Adelino de Sales Junior, Anderson Kaian de Lima Maniçoba, Mariana Silva de Bessa, Bárbara Faria de Sá Barbosa, Patrick Wesley Marques de Boa, Boniek Castillo Dutra Borges

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

To map, analyze, and summarize the available clinical evidence on the use of aromatherapy with essential oils to manage anxiety and pain during dental procedures, and to identify gaps and directions for future research.

Methods

This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Clinical trials from any year and language that assessed whether aromatherapy reduced anxiety or pain in dental settings were included. Studies without a control group were excluded. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase in June 2025.

Results

Twenty clinical trials involving 3460 participants were included. Eleven essential oils were investigated, with lavender being the most frequently studied (n = 13). Most studies assessing anxiety reported favorable trends associated with aromatherapy (n = 17), whereas studies evaluating pain generally reported no significant differences between groups (n = 7). Substantial heterogeneity was observed regarding intervention protocols, delivery methods, dosages, and outcome measures. Only one study employed an olfactory control, limiting interpretation of whether observed effects were attributable to essential oils or to odor masking in the dental environment.

Conclusions

Aromatherapy with essential oils might demonstrate potential to reduce anxiety during dental care. However, its validation in dentistry requires greater methodological standardization and the inclusion of olfactory control groups.

Clinical relevance

Aromatherapy may offer potential benefits as an adjunctive approach to improve patient experience, particularly anxiety-related outcomes, during dental care; however, current evidence remains heterogeneous and inconclusive.

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芳香疗法与精油减少焦虑，疼痛和不适在办公室牙科手术：范围审查。

目的：绘制、分析和总结有关使用精油芳香疗法治疗牙科手术期间焦虑和疼痛的现有临床证据，并确定未来研究的差距和方向。方法：本综述遵循乔安娜布里格斯研究所（JBI）的方法学和PRISMA-ScR指南。任何年份和语言的临床试验评估芳香疗法是否减少了牙科环境中的焦虑或疼痛。没有对照组的研究被排除在外。检索于2025年6月在PubMed， Web of Science， Scopus和Embase进行。结果：纳入20项临床试验，涉及3460名受试者。研究了11种精油，薰衣草是最常被研究的（n = 13）。大多数评估焦虑的研究报告了与芳香疗法相关的有利趋势（n = 17），而评估疼痛的研究通常报告两组之间没有显著差异（n = 7）。在干预方案、给药方法、剂量和结果测量方面观察到实质性的异质性。只有一项研究采用了嗅觉控制，限制了观察到的效果是归因于精油还是牙科环境中的气味掩蔽的解释。结论：精油芳香疗法可能显示出减少牙科护理期间焦虑的潜力。然而，其在牙科的验证需要更大的方法标准化和嗅觉对照组的纳入。临床相关性：芳香疗法作为一种辅助方法可能提供潜在的益处，以改善患者的体验，特别是在牙科护理期间与焦虑相关的结果；然而，目前的证据仍然是不一致和不确定的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of dentistry 医学-牙科与口腔外科

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

11.40%

发文量

349

审稿时长

35 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Dentistry has an open access mirror journal The Journal of Dentistry: X, sharing the same aims and scope, editorial team, submission system and rigorous peer review. The Journal of Dentistry is the leading international dental journal within the field of Restorative Dentistry. Placing an emphasis on publishing novel and high-quality research papers, the Journal aims to influence the practice of dentistry at clinician, research, industry and policy-maker level on an international basis. Topics covered include the management of dental disease, periodontology, endodontology, operative dentistry, fixed and removable prosthodontics, dental biomaterials science, long-term clinical trials including epidemiology and oral health, technology transfer of new scientific instrumentation or procedures, as well as clinically relevant oral biology and translational research. The Journal of Dentistry will publish original scientific research papers including short communications. It is also interested in publishing review articles and leaders in themed areas which will be linked to new scientific research. Conference proceedings are also welcome and expressions of interest should be communicated to the Editor.