Management of fear and anxiety in dental treatments: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Objectives This systematic review was to compare the effects of interventions for the management of fear and anxiety for dental treatments. Methods This research project was applied to PubMed, CENTRAL, Web of Science, Cochrane library databases. The last search was run on March 31st, 2021. A list of references of relevant articles and previous reviews were checked. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Results A total of 20 eligible randomized controlled trials were included, and 969 participations in experimental group and 892 participations in the control group were involved. Anxiety levels decreased more in intervention groups than in control groups ( Z = 3.47, P = 0.0005, SMD = – 0.62, 95% CI − 0.98 to − 0.27). For adults, there was statistical difference between experimental and control groups [ Z = 2.14, P = 0.03, 95% CI − 0.54 (− 1.03, − 0.04)], while there was not no such statistical difference in children and adolescents [ Z = 1.62, P = 0.11, 95% CI − 0.60 (− 1.32, 0.13)]. Patients experienced a significant decrease in anxiety level using sedation drugs [ Z = 2.44, P = 0.01, 95% CI − 0.61 (− 1.10, − 0.12)] and audio–visual distractions [ Z = 3.1, P = 0.002, 95% CI − 0.86 (− 1.40, − 0.32)]. For the informative intervention groups, patients did not show significant difference than control groups [ Z = 1.22, P = 0.22, 95% CI − 0.55 (− 1.43, 0. 33)]. There was no statistical difference in vital signs [ Z = 1.39, P = 0.16, 95% CI − 0.25 (− 0.61, 0.10)] and pain levels [ Z = 0.69, P = 0.49; SMD = – 0.06, 95% CI (0.27, 0.11)] between intervention and control groups. Conclusions Interventions should be used in managing anxiety and fear for dental treatment. It might be effective for anxiety alleviating for adults, but there was a low certainty of evidence that interventions could reduce anxiety level in children and adolescents. Sedation drugs and audio–visual distractions might be useful for managing dental fear and anxiety. Pain levels and vital signs could not be improved form our study. High-quality randomized clinical trials are required for further study.