USE OF ESSENTIAL OILS TO REDUCE ANXIETY, PAIN AND DISCOMFORT DURING DENTAL PROCEDURES - A SCOPING REVIEW

Introduction: Essential oils are volatile compounds that are produced as secondary metabolites by aromatic plants. They are widely used to treat psychosomatic complaints such as anxiety. In addition, some studies have reported antimicrobial, antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. These properties are promising for its use in dentistry to reduce anxiety, pain and discomfort during procedures. Objective: Summarize information on the use of essential oils to reduce anxiety, pain and discomfort during dental procedures in the dental office. Review Method: This scoping review will be carried out according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) method and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) protocol. The protocol will be registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF). The inclusion and exclusion criteria will be defined as follows: Inclusion criteria: clinical studies in humans assessing anxiety, pain perception and discomfort in patients undergoing vaporization of essential oils; published in any year and language. Exclusion criteria:studies without a control group; clinical trial protocols; letters to the editor and guidelines. The searches will be carried out by two reviewers in the electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Embase. The research strategy was based on the acronym PCC, where P stands for population, C stands for concept and the second C stands for context. The research question that guided the study was: “What is the evidence on the use of essential oils to reduce anxiety, pain and discomfort in patients undergoing dental procedures in the office?”. Thus, the following PCC was defined: P (Population): Patients undergoing dental procedures; C (Concept): Use of essential oils to reduce anxiety, pain and discomfort; C (Context): Procedures carried out in the dental office. Two reviewers will perform independent searches of the selected databases. Once the searches have been completed, all references will be exported to the online tool Rayyan® (Qatar Computing Research Institute). Initially, duplicates will be removed. Next, the titles and abstracts of the studies will be read and selected independently by two reviewers who had previously been calibrated by the Kappa test according to the eligibility criteria. Any disagreements regarding the eligibility of the selected studies will be resolved through discussion and consensus or by a third reviewer. Finally, the selected studies will be read in full to finalize the selection process and define the studies that will be included in this review. The following will be extracted: author and year; study design; population and dental procedure performed; essential oil used, dosage, administration method, and protocol of use; measured variables; occurrence of adverse effects; main results and conclusions. Presentation and Interpretation of Results: A flowchart will be developed to illustrate the study selection process leading to the final sample of eligible studies. Tables will be used to present the data extracted from the included studies. All data will be carefully analyzed, interpreted, and discussed in order to present the available scientific evidence.