Acupuncture could help dental patients
Acupuncture may be able to provide relief for dental patients who reflexively gag during procedures like teeth impressions, according to Italian researchers.
According to Giuseppa Bilello and Antonella Fregapane, both from the University of Palermo in Sicily, people who cannot help their gag reflex may unintentionally deprive themselves of the best dental care.
One strategy to solve that problem may be acupuncture, the pair suggests.
“It is a small study, and that is one weakness,” said Dr Palle Rosted, a consultant acupuncturist with Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield. “But it is a good start.”
The researchers recruited 20 people, who ranged in age from 19 to 80, and who had a history of gag reflex in the dental chair. They had upper and lower teeth impressions taken under normal circumstances, and then immediately after, during acupuncture.
For the first round of teeth impressions, an average gag reflex score of 7 out of 10 was reported, with 10 presenting the maximum nausea sensation.
During the second round, acupuncture needles were applied about 30 seconds before impressions were taken and left in until the procedure ended. On average, gag reflex scores dropped to just 1.
The findings were published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine. However, the researchers point out that they can’t be sure the improvements were due to the acupuncture needles themselves, in part because there was no comparison group that didn’t receive acupuncture.
Another possibility is that gag reflex scored reduced because patients were more adjusted to the impressions the second time around. Despite this, Rosted said: “It has certainly given us some more evidence that acupuncture may be effective.”
In order for a large, randomised controlled trial to be done on this subject, which would advance the research much further, dental offices and academic institutions may have to work together. This is the suggestion of Chris Dickinson, of King’s College London Dental Institute.
“There are very few contraindications associated with acupuncture and dental operations that we’ve experienced,” Dickinson said. “But we don’t use the technique in patients with metal allergies, pregnant women, or those with needle phobias.”
Unlike general anaesthesia, a benefit of acupuncture is that after an operation involving it, a patient may choose to drive home. “The risk of causing harm with this treatment is nearly non-existent,” Rosted commented.
