Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan;18(1):345-352.
doi: 10.1016/j.jds.2022.08.031. Epub 2022 Sep 15.

Physiological reaction of anxious patients taking sedative medications before and after periodontal surgery

I-Ping Lin  1   2 , Po-Chun Chang  1   3   4
Affiliations

Physiological reaction of anxious patients taking sedative medications before and after periodontal surgery

I-Ping Lin et al. J Dent Sci. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Background/purpose: Clinicians use sedatives for anxiety patients at times in daily practice, but the direct influence of the medication on the wound healing of periodontal tissues is unknown. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of the short-term administration of diazepam to patients with dental anxiety undergoing free gingival graft (FGG) procedures.

Materials and methods: A total of 51 FGG procedures in 39 patients were included. Twenty-six anxious patients medicated with 5 mg of diazepam from the night before surgery to 7 days after surgery served as the medication group, and the rest served as the control group. Direct examination, photographs and H2O2 were used to evaluate the healing of palatal wounds. Stress levels and sleep quality, and salivary melatonin levels were assessed.

Results: On Day 14, complete epithelization of the wounds was noted in 48.39% of the patients in the medication group and 35.29% of the patients in the control group. Regardless of whether they receive medication or not, groups with complete epithelialization by Day 14 had higher levels of preoperative melatonin than those without, with a P value of 0.02. The postoperative melatonin in the medication group tended to present higher levels than the control group.

Conclusion: Higher preoperative melatonin levels can accelerate wound healing. The short-term administration of the diazepam seemed to facilitate palatal wound healing by reducing stress and maintaining postoperative melatonin levels. This is the first time the relationships between sedatives, melatonin levels and palatal wound healing has been reported.

Keywords: Anxiety; Gingival grafts; Oral medicine; Periodontal plastic surgery; Sedation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The workflow of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clinical photographs of the control and medication groups. (a, e) Recipient site. (b, f) Application of a free gingival graft. (c, g) Palatal wound of 1 mm in depth. (d) Incomplete wound epithelialization with the foaming reaction by H2O2 test at 2 weeks. (h) Complete wound epithelialization at 2 weeks.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Stabholz A., Peretz B. Dental anxiety among patients prior to different dental treatments. Int Dent J. 1999;49:90–94. - PubMed
    1. Gatchel R.J., Ingersoll B.D., Bowman L., et al. The prevalence of dental fear and avoidance: a recent survey study. Am Dent Assoc. 1983;107:609–610. - PubMed
    1. Corcuera-Flores J.-R., Silvestre-Rangil J., Cutando-Soriano A., López-Jiménez J. Current methods of sedation in dental patients-a systematic review of the literature. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2016;21:e579. - PMC - PubMed
    1. de Oliveira Araújo J., de Cássia Bergamaschi C., Lopes L.C., et al. Effectiveness and safety of oral sedation in adult patients undergoing dental procedures: a systematic review. BMJ Open. 2021;11 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wilson T.D., McNeil D.W., Kyle B.N., Weaver B.D., Graves R.W. Effects of conscious sedation on patient recall of anxiety and pain after oral surgery. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Parhol Oral Radiol Endod. 2014;117:277–282. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources