Stress in dental patients. Effect of time of day on the adrenocortical response to oral surgery.

Abstract : The effect of time of day on the serum 17hydroxycorticosteroid response was studied in 120 healthy adult males undergoing oral surgery. Urinary steroid excretion studies were carried out on an additional 117 comparable subjects. The anticipation of tooth removal was again found to produce significantly increased serum steroid concentrations. The diurnal effect produced a significant decrease in serum 17-OHCS levels in these apprehensive patients when surgery was delayed until later in the day. The capacity of the cortex to respond to the exodontic procedure was not decreased by delaying the operation until 1300 hours. The mean serum steroid concentration at 1300 hours, just prior to surgery, was virtually identical to out values found for 633 nonoperated control subjects at 0730 to 0800 hours. The effect of the exodontic procedure on urinary steroid excretion was not positively established. (Author)