The Efficacy of Passiflora Incarnata Linnaeus in Reducing Dental Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Periodontal Treatment

Statement of problem: oral premedication used to reduce the anxiety in patients undergoing dental treatment. passion flower has been used as a sedative that can control the dental anxiety. purpose: this study determines the efficacy of passion flower, in reducing anxiety during the dental procedures. material and methods: in this randomized- one sided blind clinical trial, 63 patients, with moderate, high and severe anxiety(according to vas score) in need of periodontal treatment were randomly divided into 3 groups of 21.the first group was given the drop passion flower drop and the second group were given the drop of placebo and the third group; neither drug nor placebo were given (negative control group). results were analyzed by chi square, variance analysis, tucky and paired-t using spss software. results: mean anxiety level prior to the drug administration was 12.09±2.42 for the passion flower group, 12.00±2.66 for the placebo group and 11.66±2.39 for the negative control group. after premedication, these values were: 8.47±2.58 for the passion flower group, 10.52±2.11 for the placebo group and 11.23±2.34 for the negative control group. these results demonstrated a significant difference (p< 0.0001) in the anxiety levels before and after the passion flower administration in the passion flower group and also between the passion flower group and the other two groups. conclusion: results indicated that administration of passion flower, as a premedication, is significantly effective in reducing the anxiety. since this study is a pioneer on the subject, further trials with greater number of subjects are required to confirm our results.