DENTAL ANXIETY AMONG PREGNANT-WOMEN TREATED THROUGH TWO MINIMALLY INVASIVE METHODS.

The anxiety caused by conventional dentistry treatment, with rotator instruments, lead to a behavior contrary to the dental treatment, which may determine severes consequence to oral health. Minimally invasive methods compared to conventional are less traumatic and offers advantages in anxious patients compared to conventional dentistry treatment. To evaluate the level of dental anxiety among pregnant women comparing minimally invasive methods for managing dental caries to previous experience with dental treatments using rotary instruments. Methods: A total of 50 pregnant women (second trimester of pregnancy), mean age 22±5.30 years, were treated by two previously trained operators. The treatment approaches tested were: chemo-mechanical (Carisolv™-MediTeam, Sweden-CM) and mechanical (Atraumatic Restorative Treatment-ART) methods. A split-month study design was used in which the two treatments were randomly placed in 50 matched pairs of permanent teeth. The restorative material used was high strength glass ionomer cement (Ketac Molar, 3M ESPE). Dental anxiety scores were determined using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) before and after minimal interventional restorative approaches. The data were analyzed using Wilcoxon test. A difference was statistically significant if p<0.05. Results: Significant differences were observed between the two minimal interventional approaches and dental treatment using rotary instruments (p<0.05). There were no differences in level of dental anxiety observed between ART and chemo-mechanical group (p>0.05). Conclusions: The two minimal interventional approaches, chemo-mechanical method and Atraumatic Restorative Treatment, showed similar advantageous in pregnant women who have a phobia to the conventional treatment using rotary instruments.      kmodena@yahoo.com.br