The use of dental anxiety management techniques during one-session treatment: a study on five video-recorded patient cases

Abstract

Objective

The aim was to examine what kinds of dental anxiety management techniques dentists use in the context of one-session treatment.

Material and methods

The data consisted of videotaped treatment sessions for five dentally anxious adults. The treatment was conducted by two experienced dentists without formal training in the treatment of dentally anxious patients or behavioral management techniques. Theory-driven qualitative content analysis, based on the anxiety management classification of Milgrom et al. was used to identify and classify the techniques used during the treatments.

Results

Altogether, diverse categories of dental anxiety management techniques were identified under the main themes of enhancing trust and control and psychological management. Techniques that fell into enhancing trust and control included the categories of ‘building a trustful relationship’, ‘informational control’, and ‘behavioral control’. These techniques were used consistently throughout the sessions. Additionally, psychological management techniques were identified and classified as ‘behavioral strategies: relaxing the body’ and ‘cognitive strategies: relaxing the mind’, which were regularly used in specific situations.

Conclusion

The results indicate that a variety of dental anxiety management techniques were used during one-session treatments. The findings provide valuable insights for dentists in managing their patients with dental anxiety and improving their overall treatment experience.

Keywords:

• Behavior management
• dental anxiety
• patient trust
• content analysis
• video recording

TR::

• NCT02919241

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the two dentists conducting the dental treatment sessions on the participants and the patients who participated in this study.

Ethics statement

Ethical permission for this study was granted by the Hospital District of Northern Savo under registration number 281/13.02.00/2016. The authors complied with the instructions of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity regarding all ethical rules and participants’ rights in this study.

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data is not publicly available due to privacy and ethical restrictions.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest and have nothing to disclose in this study.

No external funding, apart from the support of the authors’ institutions, was available for this study.