Acupuncture May Ease Dental Anxiety

March 30, 2010— -- Patients who resisted dental procedures because of anxiety successfully underwent treatment after five minutes of acupuncture, a small study showed.

The median level of anxiety among 20 patients was significantly reduced after acupuncture and completion of their respective procedures, Dr. Palle Rosted of Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield, England, and colleagues reported online in Acupuncture in Medicine.

Individually, 12 of the patients had significant reductions in anxiety from baseline to postprocedure, as measured with the Beck Anxiety Inventory.

The findings suggest acupuncture can help combat moderate-to-severe anxiety associated with going to the dentist, along with distraction techniques, sedatives, antidepressants, and beta-blockers, Rosted said.

"It's not [a miracle cure]," he said in an interview. "But what we can say is that dentists have an extra tool in the toolbox."

Rosted said acupuncture for dental anxiety is inexpensive, relatively free of adverse events, and quick and easy to learn.

He cautioned, however, that acupuncture in this setting needs to be evaluated in a larger, randomized trial.

It is estimated that severe dental anxiety affects about 5 percent of individuals in Western countries, with another 20 to 30 percent reporting moderate anxiety.

Sedatives have been shown to be effective, but their safety is controversial, Rosted and his colleagues wrote in their paper.

Psychotherapeutic techniques, although showing some benefit, are time consuming and require specialized education and skills, they added.

Anecdotal reports have suggested acupuncture may relieve dental anxiety, but its use had not been well studied.

To explore the issue, Rosted and his colleagues looked at 20 case reports from eight dentists who were seeking a diploma from the British Dental Acupuncture Society.

The mean age of the patients was around 40. All had a history of severe dental anxiety lasting from two to 30 years. The anxiety had made treatment difficult or impossible.