Making dental drills less anxiety inducing
Researchers say that by studying a drill's aeroacoustics the anxiety-causing sounds can be identified and decreased.
Odontophobia, the irrational fear of dentists and dental procedures, is a well-known cause of people avoiding care and treatment.
One aspect of their anxiety comes from the sound of the dental drill. Tomomi Yamada, an Assistant Professor at the University of Osaka’s Graduate School of Dentistry, has witnessed discomfort and fear in her patients firsthand.
“Originally, I was doing research on dental materials, but I realised that almost no one, not even dentists, was tackling this sound problem scientifically,” she said. Professor Yamada presented her work today at the Sixth Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan in Hawaii.
To understand the aerodynamics of the drill, Yamada and her collaborators from the University of Osaka, Kobe University and National Cheng Kung University used Japan’s flagship supercomputer to conduct large-scale aeroacoustics simulations. They were able to visualise how air moves through and around the drill to create its noise.
“Our research showed that just making the drill quieter isn’t enough to make the sound less unpleasant,” said Professor Yamada. “What really matters is improving its sound quality.”
The researchers also tested the psychological effects of the dental drill, which can generate high-pitched sounds reaching nearly 20 kilohertz, with children and adults. They found that younger listeners had different reactions to the drill, perceiving the sounds as louder and more unpleasant.
“This indicates that children’s fear of dental sounds is not merely psychological but also physiological in nature,” said Yamada. “Children truly hear these sounds differently, so their fear of dental treatment is a genuine sensory response, not just imagination.”
To address this, Yamada and her colleagues are working on optimising the blade geometry and exhaust port of the drill to minimise the noise while maintaining the performance.
“Our framework provides a foundation for aeroacoustic optimisation for air turbine handpiecess, thereby supporting the development of quieter dental devices that can enhance patient comfort and reduce anxiety in clinical settings,”said Professor Yamada.
“Moving forward, we hope to work with dental manufacturers through industry–academia partnerships, progressing toward commercialisation after completing the necessary regulatory and durability testing.”
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