For the most part, this has to do with fears, phobias and anxieties related to going to the dentist, including needle phobia, all very changeable with hypnotherapy.
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Goodman, Ashley A.; Brown, Donald C. (2009). Pain, Anxiety, and
Dental Gagging in Adults and Children. In Brown, Donald C. (Ed),
Advances in the Use of Hypnosis for Medicine, Dentistry and Pain
Prevention/Management, (pp. 99-128). Norwalk, CT: Crown House
Publishing Limited.
Hypnosis is an altered state of awareness in which individuals withdraw their
peripheral awareness and concentrate on a focal goal. It is a deep state of
concentration rather than relaxation. Communication is maintained and is direct to
the subconscious. Suggestion is the process of accepting a proposition for belief in
the absence of intervening and critical thought that would normally occur. In this
chapter the authors begin with a brief discussion of hypnosis and then go on to
describe the different forms of hypnosis. The chapter concludes with various
examples of how hypnosis can be used as a therapeutic tool to ease dental fear,
phobias, and pain in adults and children.
Eitner, Stephan; Wichmann, Manfred; Schultze-Mosgau, Stefan;
Schlegel, Andreas; Leher, Anna; Heckmann, Josef; Heckmann,
Siegfried; Holst, Stefan. (Oct 2006). Neurophysiologic and Long-term Effects of Clinical
Hypnosis in Oral and Maxillofacial Treatment -- A Comparative Interdisciplinary Clinical Study.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Vol
54(4), 457-479.
This prospective comparative clinical study evaluated the effectiveness of clinical
hypnosis and its long-term effect in oral and maxillofacial treatment. A total of 45
highly anxious and non-anxious subjects were evaluated by subjective experience
and objective parameters (EEG, ECG, heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen
saturation, respiration rate, salivary cortisol concentration, and body temperature).
During and subsequent to the operative treatment, hypnosis led to a significant
reduction of systolic blood pressure, and respiration rate and to significant changes
in the EEG. The subjective values of the parameters evaluated existing anxiety
mechanisms and patterns and possible strategies to control them, whereas the
objective parameters proved the effectiveness of hypnosis and its long-term effect.
Gow, Michael A. (2006). Hypnosis with a 31-Year-Old Female with
Dental Phobia Requiring an Emergency Extraction. Contemporary
Hypnosis, Vol 23(2), 83-91.
Presenting problem: Female, 31, attended emergency appointment at dental surgery
with pain, dental phobia prevented extraction. Aim: Manage dental phobia using
hypnosis integrated into anxiety management treatment plan to facilitate extraction.
Anxiety management techniques: needle desensitization and hypnosis. Results: Pre-treatment questionnaire revealed high level anxiety (16/20 Corah score, and 25/30
modified Corah score) and anticipation of pain during future dental treatment (5/10
on a Visual Analogue Scale). Following the successful extraction of the tooth, a
posttreatment questionnaire revealed low level anxiety (7/20 Corah and 11/30
modified Corah) and low anticipation of future pain (1/10). Conclusion: Patient
attended second emergency appointment and hypnotic intervention facilitated the
removal of the troublesome tooth. Successful outcome of this treatment and new
learned self-hypnosis techniques allowed patient to feel more confident about
accepting future dental treatment without need for pharmacological intervention.
Fábián, T. K.; Fábián, G. (1998). Stress of Life, Stress of Death:
Anxiety in Dentistry from the Viewpoint of Hypnotherapy. In
Csermely, Peter (Ed), Stress of Life: From Molecules to Man. Annals of
the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 851, (pp. 495-500). New
York, NY: New York Academy of Sciences.
This chapter studied the effectiveness of hypnosis in reducing dental anxiety. In the
first experiment, 23 adults with moderate anxiety related to dental treatment were
divided into 2 groups. The 15 subjects in the experimental group underwent a hypnotic treatment to reduce anxiety, while the 8 subjects in the control group received no special treatment. In the hypnotically calmed subjects, the occurrence of spontaneous analgesia was significantly more frequent. In the second experiment, the effectiveness of hypnosis combined with local anaesthesia was investigated in the dental treatment of 12 dental needle-phobic patients (aged 30–56 yrs) with needle-related collapse in the anamnesis. After hypnosis, a reduction of anxiety from the dental needle occurred. In 8 cases, no indisposition appeared; in 3 cases moderate indisposition appeared; and in only 1 case a collapse occurred. Even in this case, however, hypnosis had the significant advantage that the patient did not remember the indisposition or collapse.
Enqvist, Björn; Fischer, Kerstin. (Apr 1997). Pre-operataive Hypnotic
Techniques Reduce Consumption of Analgesics after Surgical
Removal of Third Mandibular Molars: A Brief Communication.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Vol
45(2), 102-108.
Evaluated the effects of preoperative hypnotic techniques (HTs) used by patients
planned for surgical removal of third mandibular molars. The aim of the study was
to examine whether preoperative HTs can reduce preoperative stress and improve
healing and rehabilitation. Subjects were randomly assigned to an HT (n = 33) or a no-HT (n = 36) group. During the week before the surgery, the HT group listened to an
audiotape containing a hypnotic relaxation induction. Posthypnotic suggestions of
healing and recovery were given on the tape together with advice regarding ways to
achieve control over stress and pain. Only 1 surgeon who was not aware of S group
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assignments performed all the operations. Anxiety before the operation increased
significantly in the no-HT group but remained at baseline level in the HT group.
Postoperative consumption of analgesics was significantly reduced in the HT group
compared with the no-HT group.
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