Aromas are believed to have powerful effects on emotional states in humans. Treatment with dental local anaesthesia (DLA) is a mentally stressful and fearful experience for many patients. We investigated the effect of using a topical anaesthetic with a patient‐preferred aroma prior to DLA on anxiety, fear, and autonomic nervous system activity (ANSA). Anxiety and fear were assessed in 68 healthy volunteers using both a modified Japanese translation of Spielberger's State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI‐s) and a visual analogue scale (VAS). ANSA was assessed by heart‐rate variability (HRV) analysis, which yields normalized low‐frequency (%LF) and high‐frequency (%HF) components. These parameters were assessed at baseline and immediately prior to DLA. The volunteers randomly received either a topical anaesthetic without an aroma (non‐aroma group) or one with a patient‐selected aroma (aroma group) prior to DLA. The data were statistically analysed with two‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc t‐tests. The STAI‐s scores in the non‐aroma group prior to DLA were significantly higher than the baseline scores. In contrast, the STAI‐s scores in the aroma group prior to DLA were not significantly higher than the baseline scores. On the other hand, the VAS scores in both the non‐aroma group and the aroma group were significantly higher prior to DLA than the baseline scores. Patients do not experience increased anxiety when using dental topical anaesthetic with their preferred aroma prior to DLA.

中文翻译：

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在局部麻醉之前，患者偏爱的牙科局部麻醉剂的香气会影响焦虑，恐惧和自主神经系统活动吗？随机试验

香气被认为对人类的情绪状态具有强大的影响。牙科局部麻醉（DLA）的治疗对许多患者来说是一种精神上的压力和恐惧的经历。我们研究了在DLA之前使用局部麻醉剂和患者偏爱的芳香剂对焦虑，恐惧和自主神经系统活动（ANSA）的影响。使用改良的斯皮尔伯格状态-特质焦虑量表（STAI-s）和视觉模拟量表（VAS）的日语翻译，对68名健康志愿者的焦虑和恐惧进行了评估。ANSA通过心率变异性（HRV）分析进行评估，可得出归一化的低频（％LF）和高频（％HF）分量。这些参数是在基线和DLA之前评估的。志愿者在接受DLA之前随机接受无香气的局部麻醉药（非芳香疗法组）或有患者选择的香气的麻醉药（芳香疗法组）。使用双向方差分析（ANOVA）对数据进行统计学分析事后检验。DLA之前非芳香疗法组的STAI-s得分显着高于基线得分。相反，在DLA之前，香气组中的STAI-s得分并不明显高于基线得分。另一方面，非香气组和香气组的VAS评分在DLA之前均显着高于基线评分。当在DLA之前使用具有首选香气的牙科局部麻醉剂时，患者不会感到焦虑加剧。