Follow-Up Report on Audio Analgesia

Abstract

The procedure described at the Fall Meeting—the procedure in which music and noise under the control of the dental patient are used to mask the sound of the dental drill and the pain produced by drilling or extraction—has now been employed on over 500 patients with approximately 90% success. It is now considered definite on the basis of more than 50 extractions (in which the drill did not enter the picture) that the masking noise actually masks pain. The device used to present the acoustic signals to the patient (“Audio Analgesiac”) has been considerably improved, and it is now being used on an experimental basis by several dentists, whose reports are beginning to come in. The use of noise signals more pleasing to the ear than filtered random noise is being explored. The experience to date will be summarized and preferred music and noise signals will be demonstrated.