Baraka Marwa, Zeitoun Sarah I, Salah Sara, Hafez Sawsan
Faculty of Dentistry, Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health Department, Alexandria University, Champollion St., El Azareta, Alexandria, Egypt.
BMC Oral Health. 2025 Jul 26;25(1):1254. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-06630-x.
This study examines the effects of laser acupuncture and electroacupuncture on anxiety in children with excessive gag reflexes during dental impressions.
A three-armed randomized controlled trial involved 63 pediatric dental patients aged 6-9 with excessive gag reflexes. Participants were equally divided into three groups: group 1 (laser acupuncture), group 2 (electroacupuncture), and group 3 (negative control with a deactivated device). Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) levels, Frankl scores, facial image scale (FIS), and heart rate were measured before and after interventions to assess dental anxiety. Group comparisons were conducted using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests, followed by Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons for significant results, with significance defined as p < 0.05.
The study found no significant differences in sAA levels before the intervention, but electroacupuncture significantly reduced levels post-intervention (p = 0.009) compared to the laser and control groups. Frankl scores also improved significantly with electroacupuncture (p = 0.002), indicating better cooperation during dental procedures. Both electroacupuncture and laser groups reduced heart rates significantly compared to control (p < 0.001), with correlations indicating that higher sAA levels were associated with increased discomfort in the laser group, and that stress levels were linked to heart rate in the control group.
Both laser acupuncture and electroacupuncture effectively lowered anxiety level in children with gag reflex. While both methods improved objective and subjective scores, electroacupuncture demonstrated superior efficacy in managing anxiety.
These findings support acupuncture techniques as valuable tools in pediatric dentistry for improving patient cooperation and managing anxiety during dental procedures.
Registered on clinicaltrial.gov; NCT06422286, 16/4/2024.
本研究探讨激光针刺和电针疗法对在取牙印时伴有过度恶心反射的儿童焦虑情绪的影响。
一项三臂随机对照试验纳入了63名年龄在6至9岁、伴有过度恶心反射的儿科牙科患者。参与者被平均分为三组：第1组（激光针刺组）、第2组（电针组）和第3组（使用停用设备的阴性对照组）。在干预前后测量唾液α-淀粉酶（sAA）水平、弗兰克尔评分、面部图像量表（FIS）和心率，以评估牙科焦虑情况。采用单因素方差分析或Kruskal-Wallis检验进行组间比较，对于显著结果进行Bonferroni校正的两两比较，显著性定义为p < 0.05。
研究发现干预前sAA水平无显著差异，但与激光组和对照组相比，电针干预后sAA水平显著降低（p = 0.009）。电针治疗后弗兰克尔评分也显著改善（p = 0.002），表明在牙科治疗过程中合作性更好。与对照组相比，电针组和激光组的心率均显著降低（p < 0.001），相关性分析表明激光组中较高的sAA水平与不适感增加有关，而对照组中应激水平与心率相关。
激光针刺和电针疗法均能有效降低伴有恶心反射儿童的焦虑水平。虽然两种方法都改善了客观和主观评分，但电针在管理焦虑方面显示出更优的疗效。
这些发现支持针刺技术作为儿科牙科中提高患者合作性和管理牙科治疗过程中焦虑情绪的有价值工具。
在clinicaltrial.gov上注册；NCT06422286，2024年4月16日。
