[Advance notice of contents of treatment influences patients' stress during dental treatment].

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the effect of advance notice of contents of treatment on the patients' physiological stress during dental treatment The subjects of our study comprised 34 non-dental professionals (22 female and 12 male). In simulated dental treatment, the subjects were exposed to predetermined stimulations comprised of blowing air on the molars, percussion on the premolar and usage of an air turbine next to the molar in randomized order, with/without advance notice. The skin potential level (SPL) of the subjects was measured as a physiological stress index during such simulated dental treatment As a psychological profile, the stress-coping style of each subject was examined using Lazarus Type Stress Coping Inventory (SCI). The number of decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMF). and the experience of teeth extraction in the past of each subject was also recorded. The correlation among advance notice, order and kind of stimulation, factors of SCI, DMF, gender of the subject, the experience of teeth extraction, and the subjects' stress (SPL change) was statistically analyzed using the generalized estimating equation. As a result, the effect of advance notice on the subjects' stress was opposite when the stress-coping style differed; therefore, dentists must pay attention to the patients' psychological characteristics when using advance notice for the purpose of relieving the patients' stress during dental treatment.