Effect of text message follow-up on patient's self-reported level of pain and anxiety

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether a text message reduces the severity of patient self-reported levels of pain and anxiety following initial placement of orthodontic appliances.

Materials and methods: Thirty-nine orthodontic patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups and matched for age, gender, and bracket type (self-ligating vs conventional). The subjects completed baseline questionnaires to ascertain their levels of pain and anxiety before initiating orthodontic treatment. Following the initial appointment, subjects completed the pain questionnaire and anxiety inventory at the same time daily for 1 week. One group received a structured text message showing concern and reassurance, while the second group served as a control and received no postprocedural communication.

Results: There was a statistically significant difference in pain in relation to time between the text message group and the control group as it was demonstrated that demonstrated that compared with the text message group, mean pain intensity increased and selfreported discomfort was longer in the control group. Anxiety was determined to be at its peak the day following initial orthodontic appliance placement and gradually tapered off from that time point. No intergroup difference was noted when analyzing anxiety.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that a text message sent from an orthodontic office following initial appliance placement resulted in a lower level of patient's self-reported pain. Additionally, patient anxiety is at its peak the day following the initial appointment and decreases from that point forward.

Figure 1.

Mean pain measurements (in millimeters) of the text message and control groups over the 7-day trial period.

Figure 2.

Mean anxiety measurements of the text message and control groups over the 7-day trial period.