Abstract

Introduction: Large proportions of population are phobic about dental procedures. This phobia can decrease the pain threshold and make the dental procedure more difficult. Inhalation sedation, a mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide is an effective method to decrease anxiety and pain in dentistry. The efficiency of inhalation sedation and analgesia can be affected by several factors, especially anxiety. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of preoperative dental anxiety on inhalation sedation with nitrous oxide in adult periodontal surgery. Materials and Methods: Thirty-two patients who were candidates for periodontal surgery were enrolled in the study. Their level of anxiety was determined by Dental Anxiety Scale-Revised (DAS-R) system. The periodontal surgery was done under nitrous oxide/oxygen sedation (premixed 50% N2O:50% O2). Throughout the surgery, the level of patient sedation and the operation condition were evaluated by Dental Sedation Teacher Groups (DSTG) system by a dentist. Results: Before operation, 9 (28.1%) patients had severe anxiety. Under inhalation sedation, 30 (93.8%) patients had appropriate sedation and periodontal surgery was done without difficulty in 90.7% of patients. In patients with more anxiety, the efficacy of sedation during operation was lesser and the surgery was more difficult (r = - 0.078, P = 0.000). Conclusion: Our study showed that the patients' preoperative dental anxiety was so high but use of N2O/O2 sedation had proper consequence for the surgeons. This method was more effective in the patients with less anxiety.