Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Life Dentistry at Tokyo, The Nippon Dental University, 1-9-20 Fujimi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo, 102-8159, Japan.
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Odontology. 2024 Jul;112(3):1001-1009. doi: 10.1007/s10266-023-00898-7. Epub 2024 Feb 3.
Dental drilling sounds can induce anxiety in some patients. This study aimed to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess the relationship between dental fear and auditory stimuli. Thirty-four right-handed individuals (21 women and 13 men; average age, 31.2 years) were selected. The level of dental fear was assessed using the dental fear survey (DFS). Based on a threshold DFS score > 52, participants were categorized into two groups: dental fear (DF) group (n = 12) and control group (n = 22). Two types of stimuli were presented in a single session: dental and neutral sounds. Cerebral activation during the presentation of these sounds was evaluated using contrast-enhanced blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI. In the DF group, dental sounds induced significantly stronger activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and left caudate nucleus (one-sample t test, P < 0.001). In contrast, in the control group, significantly stronger activation was observed in the bilateral Heschl's gyri and left middle frontal gyrus (one-sample t test, P < 0.001). Additionally, a two-sample t test revealed that dental sounds induced a significantly stronger activation in the left caudate nucleus in the DF group than in the control group (P < 0.005). These findings suggest that the cerebral activation pattern in individuals with DF differs from that in controls. Increased activation of subcortical regions may be associated with sound memory during dental treatment.
牙科钻头的声音可能会引起一些患者的焦虑。本研究旨在使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）来评估牙科恐惧与听觉刺激之间的关系。选择了 34 名右利手个体（21 名女性和 13 名男性；平均年龄 31.2 岁）。使用牙科恐惧量表（DFS）评估牙科恐惧水平。根据阈值 DFS 评分>52，将参与者分为两组：牙科恐惧（DF）组（n=12）和对照组（n=22）。在单次会议中呈现两种类型的刺激：牙科声音和中性声音。使用对比增强血氧水平依赖性 fMRI 评估呈现这些声音时的大脑激活。在 DF 组中，牙科声音在左侧额下回和左侧尾状核引起明显更强的激活（单样本 t 检验，P<0.001）。相比之下，在对照组中，在双侧 Heschl 回和左侧额中回观察到明显更强的激活（单样本 t 检验，P<0.001）。此外，两样本 t 检验显示，DF 组的牙科声音在左侧尾状核引起的激活明显强于对照组（P<0.005）。这些发现表明，DF 个体的大脑激活模式与对照组不同。皮质下区域的激活增加可能与牙科治疗期间的声音记忆有关。
