Retrospective Analysis of the Influence of Music Therapy Combined with Noise Reduction Technology in Dental Implant Patients

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of music therapy combined with noise reduction technology on anxiety and pain perception in dental patients.

Methods: Clinical records of 148 edentulous patients receiving dental implantation from April 2022 to April 2025 were retrospectively reviewed. Groups were stratified by institutional protocol timelines: conventional group (n = 50, standard care only, April 2022-June 2023), music group (n = 49, standard care plus music therapy, July 2023-June 2024) and noise reduction group (n = 49, standard care, music therapy and active noise control, July 2024-April 2025). Comparative metrics included pre-therapy versus post-therapy anxiety [Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and State Anxiety Inventory (S-AI)]; intraoperative pain perception [Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)] during osteotomy preparation, implant placement and gingival suturing and perioperative physiological parameters [heart rate (HR) and systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP)] at 30 minutes preoperatively, during implant placement and during suturing.

Results: Compared with pre-therapy baselines, all groups exhibited reduced MDAS and S-AI scores post-therapy (P < 0.05), with the noise reduction group demonstrating lower scores than the music and conventional groups, and the music group had lower values than the conventional group (P < 0.05). VAS scores during osteotomy, implant placement and suturing were lower in the noise reduction group than in the other groups (P < 0.05), whereas the music group showed reduced scores versus the conventional group at all surgical phases (P < 0.05). At 30 minutes before the operation, elevated HR/SBP/DBP occurred during implant placement/suturing in all groups (P < 0.05), with the noise reduction group maintaining lower levels than the two other groups, and the music group demonstrated lower values than the conventional group during both surgical phases (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The integration of music therapy with noise reduction technology may alleviate anxiety and pain perception in dental implant patients, potentially attenuating perioperative physiological stress responses. However, as a retrospective investigation, these findings reflect associative trends requiring validation through prospective randomised controlled trials.

Keywords: anxiety; dentistry; music therapy; pain perception.