Dental treatment and the surrounding dental environment may elicit many different cognitions
and emotions among people. For the majority, these feelings include anxiety and discomfort
when facing a situation of dental care. For the fearful patient a visit to the dental office is very
difficult and usually postponed as long as possible (1, 2, 3). It often means irregular dental
visiting habits with only emergency dental treatments or even sometimes total avoidance
which leads to the deterioration of oral health as well as increased feelings of anxiety, shame
and inferiority. This is why it is of great significance to diagnose anxiety on time and handle
the anxious patient properly. Treatment of dental anxiety and choosing the right method of
managing this disorder is not always easy. Therefore more and more important for the dentist
is to develop the skill of assessing of patientsÂ’ behaviour, the reasons for their problems and
seeking for suitable methods of treatment (4,5,6).
Music is a set of information, which in the form of impulses, reaches the human nervous
system. By affecting the metabolism it can change our behavior, develop emotions or bring
memories to our minds. It can also influence our brain waves and in this way change our
condition. It is well known that suitable music also has many relaxation benefits and by
changing the moods, which alerts brain chemistry, it can have a positive influence on a patient
by making concentration easier, fostering patience and above all easing anxiety (7).
The purpose of this study was to answer the question: Is it possible to eliminate the stress
connected with a visit to a dental office by music? As well this study seeks to assess whether
music influences dental patientsÂ’ tension, behaviour and treatability and whether these effects
depend on sex, age, kind of dental treatment or the level of patientsÂ’ dental anxiety.
Conclusions
– Patients who were listening to music during the dental treatment showed lower
level of tension, better treatability and better adjusment to all kinds of teatment.
– Especially among patients with medium and high levels of anxiety music had a
significant influence on their fear and comfort during the dental visit.
– Music had the biggest influence on better adjusment to dental treatment among
patients with high and medium levels of anxiety.
– The differences in tension levels among patients undergoing various kinds of
treatments by music werenÂ’t satistically significant.
– The influence of music on patientsÂ’ relaxatian in all age and sex groups wasnÂ’t
statistically significanÂ’t.
– Music seems to be a very useful tool in making the dental treatment more
pleasant for the patient.
Source-Iwona Olszewska DDS’s Article
Jodhpur Dental College,JOdhpur NAtional University
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