For many among us, a visit to the dentist is
something that is at the bottom of our “to do” list and, if we are lucky, will
disappear from the bottom as if by magic. We are deluged in adverts with
smiling faces (of course, with perfect teeth) promising an unbelievably gentle
experience, but though we may buy all sorts of rubbish offered in ads on our Facebook
pages, pain-free dentistry is, to most of us, an oxymoron.
The
problem is not that the dentist is on vacation from performing in “The Little
Shop Of Horrors,” and looks like Steve Martin to boot, but rather that we are
expecting pain and our minds do their best to honor our expectations.
This focus on expected pain is the subject of
a paper by Johnston et al in the current week's issue of the Public Library of
Science (1). The question is can we keep our thoughts elsewhere and not feel
much pain, or if we have our mind concentrating on our bodies, will our fears
be rewarded?
There
were no dentists with big, chromium plated pliers or other fearsome instruments
in this study. Instead warm irons up to 50 °C were applied to
the forearms of 16 young women and 7 young men. Temperatures were varied at
the same time as warning signals were given, but these were psychologists so
sometimes the signals lied.
The matrix of information includes results from the participants
focusing on their body, thinking about something outside their body (to take
their mind off it – as we are so often told), correct warning info and
surprise, surprise here is the pain.
The
results that we need to memorize for our trip to the dentist are 1. Concentrate
on what your body is feeling and that nasty pain is just one more thing and might not feel too bad; 2. put
earplugs in so you don’t hear the warning that this may hurt – that phrase is a
recipe for a painful time and you’re guaranteed to squeak ouch.
