The Effect Of Dentist’s Communication Skills and Psychological Supports On Tooth Sensitivity After Scalling and Rootplaning In Patients With Periodontitis

Abstract

Background: Establishing effective communication between the patient and the dentist, as a complement to dentist's clinical efforts in non-surgical periodontal therapy, is important.The aim of current study is to investigate the effect of dentist’s communication skills and psychological supports on tooth sensitivity after scalling and rootplaning in patients with periodontitis

Materials and Methods: In this study 70 periodontitis patients, with tooth sensitivity after SRP in anterior sextant, who met the inclusion criteria was divided into control and intervention group . In the experimental group (psychological support, friendship, active listening and positive expectations for success) and in the control group, a 'limited' style (ie, limited communication with the patient) was performed. Patient discomfort and pain were measured and recorded by VRS (Verbal Rating Scale). Patients in each group were evaluated for pain at the beginning of study, first week, third and sixth weeks after treatment and compared with each other. Comparison of pain intensity in the studied groups was performed by Chi-square test with SPSS 24 software. Results: During the six weeks after scaling, a decreasing trend in pain intensity was observed in both experimental and control group. There was no significant difference in pain intensity immediately after scaling and one week after scaling between the two groups.However, at three weeks and six weeks after scaling and rootplanig, the pain intensity in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group.

Conclusion: Communication skills and psychological support of the dentist is effective on reducing dental sensitivities after scaling and root planing in patients with periodontitis.