ACUPUNCTURE FOR DENTAL PROBLEMS
September 12th, 2008
Health experts estimate that nearly half of all adults avoid dental care due to fear of going to the dentist. Many individuals who experience sensitivity to dental work must choose between general anesthesia and sedation, choices which may produce adverse side effects and often increase expense. Avoidance of care due to dental anxiety results in a wide range of hygiene and personal health ailments.
One method of treating dental anxiety is the use of acupuncture points on the ear. Auricular acupuncture regulates the sympathetic nervous system, which aids in reducing stress, pain, tension, and anxiety. Including acupuncture techniques in dental medicine can greatly increase the effectiveness of treatment performed.
Acupuncture is one of several complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities that research suggests has possible benefit in dental pain and anxiety management. Two recent studies concern acupuncture for pain reduction after tooth extraction. In one study, patients who received 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.
Another study appearing in the journal Anesthesia Analgesia shows auricular acupuncture can be as effective as midazolam (a form of benzodiazepine used for sedation and pain reduction) for the control of dental anxiety. Doctors from the Departments of Anesthesiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Biometrics, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as the Pain Clinic at Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany concluded that “auricular acupuncture and intranasal midazolam were similarly effective for the treatment of dental anxiety.” Findings indicated patient compliance significantly improved for patients treated with acupuncture or midazolam.
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.
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.
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 dental treatment is not possible. Increasing evidence indicates that acupuncture 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 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.
For more information about acupuncture for the treatment of dental anxiety, toothache and dental problems call Dr. Richard Browne, Acupuncture Physician, at (305) 595-9500.
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