Acupuncture ‘helps to ease anxiety over dental visits’

THE OVERWHELMING anxiety faced by some people when they visit the dentist could be tackled with acupuncture, researchers in Yorkshire have found.

Academics at the University of York found evidence that the treatment reduced dental anxiety, which affects around 30 per cent of the adult population.

They found that acupuncture, which is based on ancient Chinese medicine, could help with symptoms including nausea, difficulty breathing and dizziness.

Hugh MacPherson, professor of acupuncture at the University of York’s Department of Health Sciences, said there was increasing scientific interest in the effectiveness of the needle therapy.

He said: “We have recently shown, for example, that acupuncture treatment can boost the effectiveness of standard medical care in chronic pain and depression.

“Chronic pain is often a symptom of a long-term condition, so to further our understanding of the various uses of acupuncture we wanted to see what it could achieve for conditions that occur suddenly, rapidly and as a reaction to particular experiences.”

Prof MacPherson said larger scale clinical trials were now needed.

He added: “If acupuncture is to be integrated into dental practices, or for use in other cases of extreme anxiety, then there needs to be more high quality research that demonstrates that it can have a lasting impact on the patient.”