Revista Cubana de Estomatología (Feb 2017)
Pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for anxiety to the dental treatment
Abstract
Introduction: dental anxiety significantly affects the individual´s oral health because patients avoid dental treatment and obstruct the dentist in his performance when providing care. Therefore, it is important to manage alternatives to face this phenomenon as a way of controlling or eliminating it. Objective: to determine the pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for dental anxiety. Methods: a literature review on the types of maneuvers to face dental anxiety published from 2010 to November 2015 was made. This search was specifically directed to scientific articles. One hundred and thirty five articles that addressed treatment of this disorder were found, excluding those presenting treatments for special patients or with phobias, and the final number was 102 papers. From the latter, 59 were taken to be considered according to the author´s criteria because they thoroughly described the study subject. Data analysis and integration: there are several alternative treatments for anxiety including the non-pharmacological methods such as music therapy, audiovisuals, virtual reality, hypnosis, among others, which are widely used by dental professionals. Moreover, pharmacological treatments mainly use drugs of choice such as benzodiazepines and nitrous oxide mixed with oxygen, being Midazolam the most used due to its good results. The combinations of both types of treatment are also effective. Conclusions: the use of music therapy, virtual reality and audiovisuals are the most used non-pharmacological treatments before this phenomenon. Midazolam and nitrous oxide in combination with oxygen are the most commonly used pharmacological treatments for dental anxiety, mainly in children.
