Joseph Meyerson

Background: This randomised, single-centre study and original research manuscript aimed to evaluate whether perioperative hypnosis and acupuncture can reduce postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), opioid use, and other complications in spinal surgery compared to standard pharmacological management. Methods: In total, 60 patients undergoing spinal surgery were divided into three groups regarding antiemetic prevention: Hypnosis and acupuncture (HG), hypnosis, acupuncture, and antiemetic (HAG), and standard control with antiemetic (CG). Hypnosis was performed one day before surgery, or patients received premedication with midazolam on the day of surgery. Anaesthesia was induced and maintained with propofol and remifentanil. Acupuncture was performed bilaterally at points LI4 and PC6 after induction of anaesthesia. Postoperatively, the consumption of opioids and antiemetics, satisfaction and well-being, length of stay and complications were recorded. Results: In all groups, additional opioids were administered in the first hour after surgery (p = 0.4). In the ICU, only one patient in the HAG and two patients in the CG and HG required additional analgesics (p = 0.8). Overall satisfaction (9/9/0 vs. 10/6/4 vs. 9/7/3; p = 0.4) and well-being scores (10/8/0 vs. 13/5/2 vs. 13/5/1; p = 0.5) were high across all groups, with no significant differences. Two patients in CG experienced mild complications. The length of hospitalisation was similar (3 days in CG vs. 4 days in HAG and HG (p = 0.7). Only one patient in the HG required antiemetics; none were needed in CG or HAG (p = 0.4). Conclusions: Within the constraints of this exploratory single-centre trial, hypnosis appeared to provide anxiolytic benefits comparable to benzodiazepines, and intraoperative acupuncture did not increase PONV despite reduced pharmacological prophylaxis. No significant differences were detected in opioid and antiemetic consumption. Larger, adequately powered studies are needed to confirm these findings and optimise the timing and modality of non-pharmacological interventions.

Patients experiencing psychosomatic symptoms frequently have difficulty obtaining correct treatment. They are often reluctant to partially attribute their symptoms to psychological factors and, as a result, delay referrals to mental health professionals. Furthermore, the dropout rate from therapy is high and relapses are common. Hypnosis is a complex psycho-physiological phenomenon. Hence, hypnotic psychotherapy may play an important role in managing and treating psychosomatic symptoms and disorders that involve both the mind and body. In the current study, we propose a clinically oriented, four-phase, hypnotic approach, the hypnotic associative-dissociative approach (HADA), which may be useful in encouraging more patients with psychosomatic problems to engage in psychotherapy, thereby achieving effective long-term effects.

Parents play a significant role in the development of dental anxiety in their adolescent children. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the influence of family milieu on adolescents’ dental anxiety. The level of dental anxiety (Dental Anxiety Scale—DAS) was evaluated in 100 adolescent dental patients (ages 13–18 years) and their parents. Parents supplied information about family demographics and their personal experiences of dental treatment. Concomitantly, the family’s behavior was observed during the dental encounter. The adolescents’ mean DAS score was 9.83 ± 2.05. Adolescents’ DAS was higher when their parents’ memories from their own dental encounters were negative. A positive correlation was found between adolescents’ dental anxiety and that of their father (r = 0.52, p < 0.001) and mother (r = 0.79, p < 0.001). The following variables showed a significant ability to predict adolescents’ dental anxiety (stepwise regression): mother’s DAS (B = 0.57), adolescent’s behavior at the dental visit (B = 0.87), being the firstborn child (B = −0.44), father’s DAS (B = 0.13), and mother’s level of education (B = −0.10). The results showed that intra-family relationships and behavior, parents’ education, dental fear, and memories from previous treatments play an important role in defining the level of dental anxiety in their adolescent children.

Twentieth century technological advancements, such as video conferencing and internet technology, encourage professionals and their patients to be involved in remote, psychotherapeutic interactions. Psychotherapists who integrate hypnosis in their practice have identified new, exciting opportunities for online interactive psychotherapy, but hesitated to use the online platform for performing hypnotic interventions and therapy. This chapter presents some obstacles facing online hypnotic psychotherapy (H-psychotherapy), as well as some basic rules, specific techniques, and strategies for online interactive hypnosis implementation.

Objectives: the aims of this study were the development of a novel questionnaire to assess the impact of prosthetic treatments on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and the performance of a prospective pilot study. Background: the currently preferred OHRQoL measurement tool is the oral health impact profile-49 (OHIP-49), a self-report questionnaire which mainly focuses on general effects related to oral health. Materials and methods: A total of 24 adult participants (9 females and 15 males) were recruited and asked to complete the novel questionnaire twice: once before the prosthetic treatment began and 4–6 weeks post-treatment. The assessment of the change in OHRQoL was based on the differences in participants’ answers before and after treatment. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with a repeated-measures method and t-tests. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass coefficient (ICC). Results: The questionnaire was found to be reliable (α ≥ 0.6), with “social disability” having the highest score (α = 0.868). All domains showed an improvement (α < 0.005) in OHRQoL scores after treatment. Conclusions: the novel questionnaire tested in this study was found to be reliable and convenient to use, and demonstrated that prosthetic treatments have a significant positive effect on OHRQoL post-treatment scores.

Professional burnout and work-related stress are known problems that have been the subject of in-depth examination among dentists. Nevertheless, these issues have not been widely studied among dental assistants. The aims of this study were threefold: to confirm the structure of a Work Stress Inventory (WSI) for Dental Assistants which was originally developed for Jordanian dental assistants (factor analysis); to evaluate work stress and burnout among Israeli dental assistants and to discover the factors predicting Israeli assistants’ burnout (regression analyses). The Maslach Burnout Inventory and the WSI were distributed by mail and in person. Varimax factor analysis revealed that the items which contribute to different aspects of work stress are similar among both Jordanian and Israeli populations. Among the 299 Israeli dental assistants who completed the questionnaires, the most stressful work-related factors were income, workload, and work hazards. Eighteen percent of the participants exhibited a high to very high level of burnout. Participants exhibited a moderate level of emotional exhaustion (EE), low level of depersonalization (DP), and high level of personal accomplishment (PA). Most WSI factors were found to correlate positively with EE and DP. Linear stepwise regression analyses revealed that the best predictor of EE was the dentist‒assistant relationship, followed by workload, patient type, and salary. The best predictor of DP was patient suffering followed by dentist‒assistant relationship, years of professional experience, and work hazards. Professional stress and burnout among dental assistants are important factors that can possibly affect the wellbeing of both dental personnel and their patients. Further studies are necessary to better understand these factors in addition to the effects of personal relationships on burnout among dentists and their assistants.

In contemporary hypnosis, language constitutes the hypnotist's rudimentary instrument for developing and utilizing the hypnotic trance. In the current article, the author proposes a theoretical and clinical approach for using patient self-talk during hypnotic induction by discussing the influence of self-talk on consciousness regulation. The article includes some historical background on the use of language during hypnotic communication and demonstrates some clinical applications of patients self-talk in the process of hypnotic induction.