Changes in neurophysiologic parameters in a patient with dental anxiety by hypnosis

It was hypothesized that dental anxiety, which leads to neurophysiologic alterations in heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure prior, during and subsequent to dental treatment, can be influenced by medical hypnosis. We report the positive impact from non-invasive hypno-sedation during dental implant surgery on a 54-year-old female patient who experienced neurophysiologic reactions as a result of the psychosomatic process of dental anxiety (dental anxiety scale value = 13). The neurophysiologic changes during dental surgery performed with and without hypnosis were compared after the patient underwent the same surgical treatment protocol. This case report was part of a study designed to evaluate hypnosis as a non-invasive therapy for dental-anxious patients over six sessions using subjective experience and objective parameters, which included electroencephalogram, electrocardiogram, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation of the blood, respiration rate, salivary cortisol concentration and body temperature.

Department of Prosthodontics, Maxillofacial Surgery and Neurology and Psychiatry, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. seitner@prothetik-erlangen.de