ACUPUNCTURE FOR DENTAL PAIN
May 13th, 2008
More people seek out an acupuncture physician for back pain than tooth and jaw pain, but evidence indicates that acupuncture is a treatment of choice for pain associated with tooth extraction and for the anxiety most people experience prior to sitting in the dentist’s chair. Many health experts estimate that nearly half of all adults will not seek dental care out of fear of going to the dentist.
Acupuncture, a technique for conscious sedation, is often used as a modality for pain control. Acupuncture has been used in dentistry to control pain, during operative dentistry and for the relief of postoperative pain after tooth extraction. Acupuncture is used primarily for analgesia associated with dental procedures and for the management of chronic facial and myofascial pain syndromes, including those with a component of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) involvement.
One approach to treating dental anxiety is the use of acupuncture points on the ear. Auricular acupuncture regulates the sympathetic nervous system, with aids in reducing stress, pain, tension, and anxiety. Including acupuncture techniques in dental medicine can greatly increase the effectiveness of treatment performed.
Some patients are sensitive to dental equipment, which may cause them to gag when an instrument such as a mirror or drill is placed in the mouth. In some people, this response is exaggerated to the extent that the provision of dental treatment is not possible. Increasing evidence indicates that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can contribute to dentistry by treating patients suffering from gag reflexes at dental offices.
Acupuncture is a safe and relatively non-invasive technique to control the gag reflex in patients. Acupuncture needles are inserted into specific points on the ear and stimulated to prevent the gagging reflex. Patients that have moderate to severe gag reflexes find that after acupuncture, the gag reflex can be reduced to a level which only effects dental treatment slightly.
Acupuncture is one of the CAM approaches that literature suggests has possible benefit in dental pain management. Two recent studies concern acupuncture and pain after tooth extraction. In one study, patients receiving acupuncture were pain-free longer, with less pain medication, than the control group. In a second study, acupuncture plus codeine led to greatest pain relief, compared with no acupuncture, codeine only and acupuncture only.
According to a National Institutes of Health panel, clinical studies have shown that acupuncture is helpful in treating dental pain after surgery. Treatment of postoperative dental pain with acupuncture provides analgesia by affecting the trigeminal and facial nerves on the face, and by reducing sympathetic nervous system tone with a point on the hand.
For more information about acupuncture for dental pain call Dr. Richard Browne, Acupuncture Physician, at (305) 595-9500.
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