The Effect of Damask Rose Essential Oil Aromatherapy on Dental Anxiety and Pain on Children Undergoing Local Anesthesia: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Dental anxiety is recognized as one of the major public health problems. It can lead to avoidance of necessary dental care, which affects oral health negatively, especially in children where dental care providers face a challenge to control dental anxiety to manage the child in the dental visit. Overall prevalence of dental anxiety was 23.9% with less prevalent in adolescents (13.3%), more prevalent in preschoolers (36.5%), and schoolchildren (25.8%).

Methods for managing anxiety in dentistry are both pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Aromatherapy is one of the non-pharmacological methods, it is a Simple, inexpensive, non-invasive method introduced by the use of aromatic essential oils through the sense of smell to produce positive physiological effects, relaxation and relieve anxiety symptoms. Aromatherapy can also decrease pain perception during local anesthetic injections in children.

Rosa damascene is commonly known as Damask roses, a plant belonging to the Rosaceae family. The flowers of this plant are large, showy and colorful. for its scent, it is also used in the production of essential oil and rose water. The R. damascena plant has also been used for medicinal applications it has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-headache, and muscle-relaxing effects, and due to its strong depressing effect on the central nervous system it has hypnotic, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, and ant anxiety, effects.

The effect of rose oil in reducing pain has been conducted in children who are hospitalized for surgery, measuring the effect on post-operative pain intensity. Also, the effect of rose oil in the reduction of dental anxiety has already been studied but has been conducted on adults orthodontic patients.