Can Providing Audiovisual Information Help Relieve Anxiety in Patients Having Wisdom Teeth Removed?

An interesting article titled “Effect of Audiovisual Treatment Information on Relieving Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Impacted Mandibular Third Molar Removal” written by Sung-Hwan Choi and et al. appears in the 2015 Journal and Oral and Maxilofacial Sugery (vol. 73, pp. 2087-2092). The authors set out to explore if providing patients undergoing wisdom teeth removal an audiovisual slide presentation that provided treatment information could improve patient knowledge of postoperative complications and decrease anxiety. It is well known that patients having wisdom teeth surgery can have anxiety due to the needles and drills involved. Studies have shown that a lack of information about surgery and complications can lead to increased anxiety. Typically a written informed consent document is provided to patients prior to surgery. However, it is not clear how well patients can understand this information. The authors of the article designed a study to provide treatment information using an … Read more