Ethically Leveraging the Placebo Effect to Reduce Pain Levels in Patients Experiencing Post-Extraction Pain

Abstract

Dental procedures can frequently result in pain and discomfort, leading to anxiety and fear in patients. Following tooth extraction, mild to moderate discomfort is typical, along with issues such as swelling and bleeding. This has prompted researchers to investigate various approaches to improve patient comfort during and after dental procedures, including using placebo interventions. The placebo effect refers to the phenomenon where a patient's perception of pain or treatment outcome is influenced by their beliefs and expectations rather than specific properties. It entails a complex neurological response that involves heightened neurotransmitters such as dopamine and endorphins, an increased activity in certain brain regions associated with moods, emotional reactions, and self-awareness, amongst others.

As the anticipation of benefit from a placebo occurs at the administration time point there is an activation for dopamine receptors within reward-linked brain regions. This knowledge may be ethically utilized to enhance patient comfort during dental procedures. Methods like delivering detailed descriptions of treatments, highlighting positive results, and instilling confidence in the effectiveness of the treatment can foster constructive anticipation among patients, which might potentially strengthen the placebo effect, lessen perceived discomfort in the procedure, and reduce post-extraction painful sensation levels.