Al Awdah, A.S., et al. · EC Dental Science · 2021
The TFT group showed significantly lower dental fear after treatment (p<0.05); on a post-treatment item asking whether the method helped them overcome dental fear, about 65% of TFT patients agreed versus 25% in the negative-control group.
Dental fear keeps people out of the chair, sometimes for years, so a quick technique a patient can use in the waiting room is worth testing. This study compared tapping against control conditions before dental work and found significantly lower self-reported dental fear afterward, with most tapping patients saying they would recommend the method.
If tapping keeps outperforming other fear-reduction techniques before dental work, it could mean anxious patients — including those who avoid dental care entirely out of fear — get a quick, self-taught technique to use in the waiting room, with no sedation, no cost, and no need for a specialist to administer it. Once learned, a patient could use it before every future appointment on their own, without relearning it or paying for it again.
Since pulse and blood pressure were already tracked here, the next step is a fuller cascade: does the drop in dental fear track with lower salivary cortisol and better HRV during the procedure itself, not just beforehand, and does that translate into less pain medication needed or faster procedure completion? A trial tracking whether a brief pre-appointment tapping routine changes actual dental-care-avoidance behavior over months, not just one visit's fear score, would show whether calming the body in the chair changes long-term habits.
| Design | Randomized trial |
|---|---|
| Participants | 160 people |
| Population | Saudi women presenting for restorative dental treatment at King Saud University College of Dentistry |
| Comparison group | Tell-Show-Do (n=40), Control Shift (n=40), negative control/no fear-reduction (n=40) vs TFT (n=40) |
| Outcome measures | dental fear survey, pulse rate, blood pressure |
| Journal | EC Dental Science |
| Year | 2021 |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Language | English |
| Method | Thought Field Therapy (related tapping method) |
| Publication type | Study / trial |
| Verification | ✓ Confirmed against the primary source |
Al Awdah, A.S., & et al. (2021). The effect of Thought Field Therapy on dental fear among Saudi women during restorative treatment. EC Dental Science.
This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Phobias · Other Physical Conditions
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