Should Preoperative Information Before Impacted Third Molar Extraction Be Visual, Verbal, or Both?

Abstract

Purpose: Offering preoperative information is one option to help patients cope with the anxiety associated with oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures. Although this information is commonly delivered verbally, written information, audio recordings, and videos are also recommended. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different preoperative information techniques on patients' anxiety levels before and after third molar tooth extraction.

Materials and methods: A single-blind randomized controlled clinical trial with parallel groups was performed. 92 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Group 1 was provided information via a silent video with subtitles. Group 2 was informed via a video with background audio. Group 3 was provided a written information brochure. Group 4, designated as the control group, was informed verbally. The Spielberger state anxiety inventory (STAI-S), dental fear scale (DFS), modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS), and visual analog scale (VAS) were used pre- and postoperatively to evaluate the dental anxiety of patients. The primary predictor variable was the preoperative information method. The primary outcome variables were the scores of STAI-S, DFS, MDAS, and VAS. Gender was also set as a covariate variable. Data analysis was performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 software program. Unless otherwise stated, P < .05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 86 patients scheduled for impacted third molar extractions under local anesthesia were included in the study. There was no statistically significant difference among the groups in the mean age (P = .275) or distribution of gender (P = .070). Compared to preoperative values, the postoperative scores of MDAS and VAS were decreased significantly in group 1 (P = .002, P = .003, respectively) and group 3 (P = .007; P = .009, respectively). No statistically significant differences were found between the preoperative and postoperative scores of STAI-S, DFS, MDAS, and VAS in group 2 (P = .300, P = .028, P = .063, P = .038, respectively) and group 4 (P = .127, P = .587, P = .072, P = .016, respectively).

Conclusions: The findings indicate that visual or written material, without audio or oral delivery, substantially reduced the anxiety associated with oral and maxillofacial surgery. Therefore, clinicians should preferentially provide information via written methods to control patients' anxiety before impacted third molar surgery.