Effects of hypnosis on dental pain threshold

The rate, intensity and selectivity of hypnotic focused analgesia (HFA) were tested with dental pulp stimulation. 31 healthy subjects were hypnotized and hypnotic suggestions were given for anestesia of the right mandibular arch.A posthypnotic suggestiono f persisiting analgesia was also given. The pain threshold of the first premolar was bilaterally measured before, during and after hypnosis using a pulp tester. During hypnosis the pain threshold increate significantly (p<.0001) for both sides. The posthypnotic right pain threshold was also significantly (p<.0015) higher than the basal conditio