Musical Intervention for Dental Anxiety (MI-DENT)

November 26, 2025 updated by: Egas Moniz - Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, CRL

Implementation of Musical Intervention as a Non-Pharmacological Strategy for Mitigating Anxiety in Dental Procedures

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if listening to music during dental procedures lowers anxiety in adults. The main questions it aims to answer are: does music during the procedure lower dental anxiety, and does wearing headphones without audio to reduce ambient noise also lower dental anxiety. Researchers will compare three groups to see these effects: music via headphones, headphones without audio, and standard care without headphones or music.

Participants will:

  • Complete a short anxiety questionnaire before the dental procedure.
  • Receive one of the three approaches during the procedure: music via headphones, headphones without audio, or no headphones/music.
  • Complete a short anxiety questionnaire after the dental procedure.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Design and setting This study is a randomized, parallel-group clinical trial conducted in a dental clinic setting, evaluating two non-pharmacological auditory strategies versus standard care for reducing state anxiety during routine dental procedures in adults. Participants are randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to: music via headphones during the procedure; headphones worn without audio to attenuate ambient noise; or standard care with no headphones or music. State anxiety is measured immediately before and after the clinical encounter to estimate within-person change and between-group differences

Participants Adults receiving dental care at a university-affiliated clinic are approached at chairside prior to seating for eligibility screening and consent. Inclusion criteria include legal age and ability to complete self-report measures independently; key exclusions include hearing impairment or hearing aids, sedative medication use prior to the visit, cognitive impairment limiting informed consent, or refusal to consent. Recruitment occurs consecutively during routine clinical sessions to enhance generalizability to real-world practice.

Interventions

  • Music via headphones: participants wear wireless, supra-aural headphones delivering a standardized playlist of classical and baroque pieces (fixed sequence, ~3-hour list; actual exposure limited to visit length). Communication needs are accommodated by temporarily removing headphones when signaled; patients are instructed to raise the left hand to request interaction or report discomfort; headphones may be removed for imaging or clinical needs.
  • Headphones without audio: participants wear the same model headphones with no audio to provide passive attenuation of ambient noise; clinical communication procedures mirror the music arm.
  • Standard care: no headphones or music; routine dental care proceeds per usual practice.

Equipment and hygiene Wireless supra-aural Bluetooth 5.0 headphones with padded cushions are used to maximize comfort and passive noise isolation and to avoid cable interference with dental equipment. After each session, headphones are disinfected using 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes on all skin-contact surfaces and allowed to dry before reuse, following basic device-compatible infection control practices.

Outcomes and timing State dental anxiety and general state anxiety are assessed immediately pre-procedure and post-procedure using validated self-report instruments routinely used in dental anxiety research; higher scores indicate greater anxiety, and change scores (post minus pre) are the primary comparisons across arms. Pre-procedure sociodemographic and screening items characterize the sample and capture potential confounders (for example, psychotropic use, prior psychiatric diagnosis, prior anxiety crises in dental settings).

Randomization and masking Allocation to the three arms uses simple random assignment at participant level prior to the start of the procedure; outcome assessors use standardized, self-administered questionnaires to minimize assessor influence, but masking of participants and providers is not feasible due to the nature of the interventions. Analyses will follow the intention-to-treat principle, with sensitivity analyses as needed for protocol deviations.

Data handling and analysis Data are captured into a secured database for statistical analysis using standard software; descriptive statistics summarize the sample and visit characteristics (for example, procedure type and duration). The main analysis compares anxiety change across arms using repeated-measures multivariate methods to test group, time, and group-by-time interaction effects, which can increase power by accounting for within-person correlation and simultaneous outcomes when applicable. Planned covariates include procedure category (for example, emergency care, diagnosis/planning, preventive, restorative, endodontic, surgery/extraction, orthodontics, periodontics, oral rehabilitation) and prior dental anxiety history to address clinical heterogeneity.

Participant safety and ethics Participants may pause or stop the music or withdraw from the study at any time without impact on clinical care; any discomfort related to the use of headphones triggers immediate suspension of the intervention and clinical reassessment. Headphone volume is kept at a safe listening level to mitigate auditory risk, and all adverse events are recorded and managed per clinic policy. The study protocol has obtain ethics committee approval prior to enrollment, and all participants provide written informed consent; data are pseudonymized, stored on secure, access-restricted platforms, and managed to protect privacy and confidentiality.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Portugal
      • Almada, Portugal
        • Egas Moniz School of Health and Science

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults receiving care at the university-affiliated dental clinic, legally able to consent and willing to participate voluntarily.
  • Ability to read and independently complete brief self-report questionnaires before and after the visit.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Self-reported hearing impairment, current use of hearing aids, or other auditory conditions that interfere with safe headphone use or outcome validity.
  • Use of sedative medication prior to the visit for the current appointment, or acute intoxication that may alter anxiety ratings.
  • Cognitive impairment or other condition that limits capacity to provide informed consent or to complete study questionnaires reliably.
  • Unwillingness to wear headphones during the procedure if randomized to a headphone arm, or refusal to participate/withdrawal of consent at any time.
  • Any urgent clinical indication that, in the clinician's judgment, precludes headphone use (for example, need for uninterrupted verbal interaction or imaging incompatible with wearing the device).
  • Reported history of severe adverse reactions to headphone use (for example, marked discomfort, vertigo) or skin sensitivity incompatible with device contact points.
  • Inability to protect privacy or comply with basic study procedures (for example, cannot complete pre- and post-visit questionnaires within the clinic workflow)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Music via headphones
Participants wear wireless, supra-aural headphones delivering a standardized playlist of classical and baroque pieces
Other: Music via headphones
Wear wireless, supra-aural headphones delivering a standardized playlist of classical and baroque pieces
Active Comparator: Headphones without audio
Participants wear the same model headphones with no audio to provide passive attenuation of ambient noise
Other: Headphones without audio
wear the same model headphones with no audio to provide passive attenuation of ambient noise
No Intervention: Standard care
no headphones or music; routine dental care proceeds per usual practice

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
State Anxiety
Time Frame: Participants are assessed at the beginning and at the end of each dental appointment throughout a 5-month period
State anxiety measured by the STAI Y-1 - State Anxiety Inventory
Participants are assessed at the beginning and at the end of each dental appointment throughout a 5-month period
Dental anxiety
Time Frame: Participants are assessed at the beginning and at the end of each dental appointment throughout a 5-month period
Dental anxiety measured by the MDAS - Modified Dental Anxiety Scale
Participants are assessed at the beginning and at the end of each dental appointment throughout a 5-month period

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Egas Moniz - Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, CRL

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 17, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 2, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 16, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

November 20, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

December 4, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 26, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NP110925

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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