Ozone beats anxiety
4th Dec 2006
Using ozone as an alternative to general anaesthetic can help treat caries in anxious children, says a group of Swiss scientists.
Their study, published in the
American Journal of Dentistry, promotes ozone as a pain-free and highly effective treatment of dental caries in children with a fear of dentists.
As well as treating caries, the treatment was shown to help ease the anxiety the children had about visiting the dentist. In the study, scientists from the University of Bern in Switzerland used ozone to treat caries in 28 children aged between three and 11. The youngsters had all been referred to for treatment as their dentists considered them ‘untreatable’.
Over the course of eight months and five treatments, their caries stabilised and there was also evidence of remineralisation taking place.
Additionally, 93% of patients treated with ozone showed a reduction in their fear of dentists over the treatment period. Ninety-four per cent became confident enough to undergo dental treatment without the use of general anaesthetic.
Professor A Lussi, one of the researchers, said: ‘We were quite happy to be able to offer our young, anxious patients a treatment that is both effective and pain-free.
‘With this study, we were able to confirm that ozone has earned a place in modern dentistry. As well as this, we were successful in reducing the fear that our young patients have of the dentist.’
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