Evaluation of the effect of intra-operative music on patient anxiety in impacted 3RD molar surgery

Mandibular impacted third molar surgery is considered scary among the society. Yet it's a low risk application according to dentists. Although it has serious complication risks cited in dental literature. Patients' anxiexty status had direct effect on their psychology. Excess need for the intra-operative anesthetic solution, post operative pain killer, higher perioperative pain sensation, undesired cardiovascular situations are related to anxiety. Medication and psychological interventions are used in order to deal with the anxiety. Music is the easiest and non-invasive method for relaxation of the patients. In the present study anxiolytic effects of music and changes in vital signs are examined. 39 patients who are going to take an impacted lower third molar surgery are assigned for the experiment group, and 40 patients for the control group. Experiment group patients listened music using headphones during the surgery. All patients took Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) tests prior to the surgery. Vital signs are tracked with blood pressure and pulse measurements which are taken during waiting room, after sitting on the dental chair, during local anestesia administration, incision, bone reduction, suturing and at the end of the surgery. Student's t-test and paired t-test were used for statistical analysis (p≤0.05). No statisticaly significant differences were recorded for control and experiment groups except for the heart rate recordings at the time of suturing (p=0,036). According to MDAS scores no statistically significant differences were recorded as well. Key words: impacted ,lower third molar, music, anxiety, blood pressure, pulse