Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional feeling accompanying existing or impending tissue damage. It is the most common experience reported by patients, and anxiety is a form of warning signal. Periodontal diseases are chronic inflammatory conditions that cause destruction of periodontium. Treatment usually ranges from simple scaling and root planing to more advanced surgical procedures. The perception of pain and dental anxiety differ with various periodontal therapies. Hence, aim of the study was to assess the pain perception and anxiety during and after surgical and non-surgical periodontal therapy in chronic periodontitis patients. The patients were divided into three groups depending on the treatment they underwent. The study was conducted in 100 patients diagnosed with chronic generalized periodontitis, in the pattern of a questionnaire format given to the patients in the language they know. The questionnaire consists of Dental Anxiety Questionnaire and Visual Analog Scale. Results showed that the mean anxiety score for the patients undergoing scaling was 20.3, root planing was 17.8 and flap surgery was 24.3 which was statistically significant when compared between scaling and root planing. The pain perception in all patients between the treatment modalities, reported limited pain perception however, the VAS scores was significantly higher as pain perception is subjective and varies among individuals. The study concluded that dental anxiety and pain perception scores were significantly higher in female and middle aged patients, which decreased through the course of periodontal therapy.

Keywords: Pain perception, dental anxiety, periodontal therapy, chronic periodontitis