A comparison of anxiety levels associated with root canal therapy and oral surgery treatment.

Questionnaires regarding experience, hearsay, and perceptions of anxiety toward eight dental treatments were distributed to a general patient population. Data revealed that among 349 respondents 35% heard that root canal therapy was the most unpleasant dental treatment, whereas 29% listed oral surgery treatment as having the worst reputation. However, 53% of those experiencing oral surgery treatment stated that an oral surgery treatment was the most unpleasant treatment whereas only 17% experiencing root canal therapy stated the same for root canal therapy. On the basis of anxiety scores, root canal therapy and oral surgery treatment were categorized in the high-anxiety category, crowns, dentures, and fillings in the moderate-anxiety category, and cleaning, sick call, and examination in the low-anxiety category. The anxiety levels of root canal therapy and oral surgery treatment were then analyzed as they related to different experience groups (combinations of root canal therapy and oral surgery and experience), hearsay experience, and most unpleasant experience with root canal therapy and oral surgery. Patients having experience with root canal therapy or oral surgery treatment had lower anxiety levels toward these respective treatments than did those who had no such experience. Patients who have heard negative stories (hearsay) of root canal therapy and oral surgery showed higher levels of anxiety toward these respective treatments than did those who have not heard such stories. But former endodontic patients who had heard negative stories about root canal therapy actually recorded lower anxiety levels toward root canal therapy than those patients with no negative hearsay experience.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)