Trial reportBMC oral health2023
Changes in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD in an RCT-study of dentist-administered treatment of dental anxiety.
Trial report in BMC oral health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03293342 (The Effect of a Dentist Administered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effect of a Dentist Administered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (D-CBT) in Adult Patients With Dental Fear
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is ketamine efficacious for rapid treatment of acute suicidal ideation in an emergency setting? Lessons learned from a pilot randomized controlled trial.BMC research notes · 2025Trial
- Oral health status and treatment needs among adults seeking dental anxiety treatment in general practice - a cross-sectional study.Acta odontologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Managing Preoperative Anxiety in the Context of Odontectomy: A Systematic Review.Dentistry journal · 2026Review
- Exploring fulfillment of basic psychological needs in patients with dental anxiety: an investigation grounded in self-determination theory.Acta odontologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Treating dental anxiety for patients with a trauma history or severe dental anxiety: A scoping review.European journal of oral sciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEducating dentists in treatment methods for dental anxiety would increase the patients' access to treatments that are important to their oral health. However, to avoid adverse effects on comorbid symptoms, involvement by a psychologist has been considered necessary. The objective of the present paper was to evaluate whether a dentist could implement systematized treatments for dental anxiety without an increase in comorbid symptoms of anxiety, depression or PTSD.
methodsA two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial was set in a general dental practice. Eighty-two patients with self-reported dental anxiety either completed treatment with dentist-administered cognitive behavioural therapy (D-CBT, n = 36), or received dental treatment while sedated with midazolam combined with the systemized communication technique "The Four Habits Model" (Four Habits/midazolam, n = 41). Dental anxiety and comorbid symptoms were measured pre-treatment (n = 96), post-treatment (n = 77) and one-year after treatment (n = 52).
resultsAn Intention-To-Treat analysis indicated reduced dental anxiety scores by the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (median MDAS: 5.0 (-1,16)). The median scores on the Hospital Index of Anxiety and Depression (HADS-A/D) and the PTSD checklist for DSM-IV (PCL) were reduced as follows: HADS-A: 1 (-11, 11)/HADS-D: 0 (-7, 10)/PCL: 1 (-17,37). No between-group differences were found.
conclusionsThe study findings support that a general dental practitioner may treat dental anxiety with Four Habits/Midazolam or D-CBT without causing adverse effects on symptoms of anxiety, depression or PTSD. Establishing a best practice for treatment of patients with dental anxiety in general dental practice should be a shared ambition for clinicians, researchers, and educators.
trial registrationThe trial was approved by REC (Norwegian regional committee for medical and health research ethics) with ID number 2017/97 in March 2017, and it is registered in clinicaltrials.gov 26/09/2017 with identifier: NCT03293342.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.