Efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in Dental Phobia

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Dental Phobia
• Interventions: Behavioral: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

• Registration Number: NCT01207960
• Lead Sponsor: University Hospital Muenster

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to find out whether Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is effective in the treatment of patients with dental phobia.

Detailed Description

Dental phobia represents a clinical condition that affects 5-15% of the community and is characterized by severe anxiety of dental treatment which leads to avoidance of treatment and, as a consequence, severe dental as well as psychosocial problems.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been developed for the treatment of patients with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Its efficacy in PTSD patients has often been demonstrated in randomized controlled trials.

Recently it has been demonstrated that dental phobia is often induced by traumatic events during dental treatment and goes along with symptoms of PTSD in numerous patients.

A pilot study (de Jongh et al. 2002) gave hints on the efficacy of EMDR in four dental phobia patients with a history of traumatization during dental treatment.

This randomized wait-list control study aims to evaluate the efficacy of EMDR in a larger sample of dental phobia patients.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2010-01
• Study First Submitted: 2010-06-29
• Study First Submitted QC: 2010-09-22
• Study First Posted: 2010-09-23
• Primary Completion: 2011-09
• Study Completion: 2011-09
• Status Verified: 2012-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2012-05-03
• Last Update Posted: 2012-05-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 24

Inclusion Criteria

• dental phobia according to the World Health Organization´s International Classification of Diseases, ICD-10 (F40.2)

Exclusion Criteria

• schizophrenic disorder
• severe depression
• severe dissociative disorder
• organic brain disease
• anorexia nervosa (body mass index, BMI < 17)
• suicidality
• severe cardio-vascular disease
• ophthalmic disease
• pregnancy and lactation
• psychopharmacological treatment
• substance abuse

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
EMDR	Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)	Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Dental anxiety	12 months	Dental anxiety is assessed by the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and the Dental Fear Survey (DFS).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
General psychopathology	4 weeks, 3 months, 12 months	General psychopathology is assessed by the Brief Symptom Scale (BSI).
Anxiety and depression	4 weeks, 3 months, 12 months	Anxiety and depression are assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
Behavioral test	4 weeks	Dentral anxiety is assessed during a dental visit before and after treatment/wait-list control condition by means of a standardized behavior obeservation and interview.
Dental treatment	3 months, 12 months	Does the patient tolerate dental treatment within 3 and 12 months after Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)?

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Psychosomatics in Dentistry, Dept. of Prosthodontics & Material Science, University Hospital Muenster; 🇩🇪 Muenster, Germany