ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To explore a personalized musical intervention's effect on burden of care during dental implants placement. METHODS: Randomized Controlled Trial in 24 dental implant surgery patients. A personalized music intervention (Music Care© application) or an audiobook control condition was administered. Burden of care (a composite outcome including self-reported anxiety, pain, and dissatisfaction felt during surgery), expected pain prior to surgery, pre- and post-surgery affect, memory of pain felt during surgery, and participants' emotional judgments of the music and audiobook listening were assessed. RESULTS: The personalized music intervention significantly reduced the burden of care for dental implant surgery (p = 0.02; d = 1.07). Both groups reported positive affect after surgery, but the music group felt better. The pain remembered after seven postoperative days was significantly lower in the music group (p = 0.02). Participants judged the music listened to during surgery as more relaxing and pleasant than the audiobook (p = 0.002 and p = 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Personalized music intervention could be effective in decreasing patients' burden of care during dental implant surgery. These results need to be confirmed by a rigorous randomized control trial. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The burden of care associated with the pain and anxiety experienced during dental implant surgery can be reduced using a personalized and standardized music intervention. This approach may provide a simple complementary approach to improve surgical care in various settings.