The anxiety reduction effect of pre-operative instruction in dental patients

Dental extraction likely leads to anxiety in patients. Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the anxiety reduction effect between annotated and conventional pre-operative instructions. Methods: Seventy-one patients who had simple tooth extraction at Thammasat Chalermprakiet Hospital were included in this study. Participants were stratified by sex and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Participants in control group received standard instructions regarding post-operative care. Participants in experimental group received annotated instructions which were the standard insruction including details of operation, all possible complications and wound healing processes. The Modified Dental Anxiety Score of Humphris was used to measure pre- and post-operation anxiety level. Statistical analyses were performed using student pair t-test by SPSS version 12. Results: The participants in control and experimental groups were 15 males, 22 females and 12 meales and 22 females,respectively. In the experimental group, the mean anxiety score significantly decreased from 10.85 to 9.18 (p< 0.05). Whereas the mean anxiety scores in the control group were not different. Conclusion: The present study suggested that providing annotated instruction may be beneficial and result in a less-anxiety experience for dental patients.