Citation Information :
Venkatesh V, Rajula PB, Vaishnavi A. Effect of Brainwave Entrainment on Perception of Anxiety during Dental Treatment: A Pilot Study. World J Dent 2023; 14 (12):1032-1036.
Background: Anxiety impacts both physical and mental health with symptoms including nervousness, palpitations, sweating, and dizziness, thereby affecting cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, and nervous systems. Brainwave entrainment (BWE) is the capacity of the brain to synchronize its own frequencies with the rhythm of an externally applied stimulus. Patients undergoing dental treatment experience increased anxiety both preoperatively and intraoperatively. This, in turn, may lead to increased perception of pain as well as instability of vital signs throughout the procedure. There are numerous nonpharmacological adjuvants employed for management of dental anxiety; however, this study is an attempt to assess the effect of BWE on anxiety in patients undergoing root canal therapy.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of BWE on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR) values both before and during root canal treatment in population experiencing moderate to severe anxiety assessed using Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale.
Materials and methods: Forty participants were included in this pilot study and were divided into four groups (three entrainment groups and one control group). The three entrainment groups include alpha (10 Hz), theta (7 Hz), and delta (1 Hz) groups subjected to audiovisual entrainment in the corresponding frequencies. All participants were subjected to 10 minutes of preoperative entrainment except for the control group. The second entrainment session was applied, following administration of local anesthesia and rubber dam isolation, for 10 minutes following which the intratreatment vital sign values were recorded. In case of control group, no entrainment sessions were applied but simply the vital signs were recorded 10 minutes before and after initiation of treatment (preoperative and intraoperative, respectively).
Results: Delta entrainment group exhibited significantly lower HR values both pre- and intraoperatively (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences with regard to SBP and DBP values.
Conclusion: Brainwave entrainment (BWE) can be considered an effective nonpharmacological aid for management of anxiety in patients requiring dental treatment.
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