Papers And Originals
Biochemical Evidence of Anxiety in Dental Patients
Br Med J 1972; 4 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.4.5831.7 (Published 07 October 1972) Cite this as: Br Med J 1972;4:7
- H. D. Edmondson,
- B. Roscoe,
- M. D. Vickers
Abstract
Urinary metabolites before dental treatment were compared in a group of patients with dental phobia and in a matched control group. Plasma adrenaline, noradrenaline, and free fatty acids were estimated before treatment, immediately after sedation with diazapam 0·2 mg/kg body weight in the phobic patients, during induction of oral anaesthesia, and during and after surgery. Patients with dental phobia had significantly higher levels of adrenaline, which were only temporarily lowered by sedation, and which during treatment remained consistently higher than those of control patients.