Abstract: PURPOSE: To study the occurrence of pain and anxiety of patients undergoing impacted mandibular third molar extraction, and analyze their correlation with personality traits. METHODS: Eighty-five patients undergoing impacted mandibular third molar extraction were selected as the subjects. Pain visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS) scores and Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ-RSC) scores were measured and recorded. The correlation between VAS score, MDAS score and personality traits was analyzed using SPSS 19.0 software package. RESULTS: Among 85 patients, mild and moderate pain accounted for 52.94% and 47.06% respectively. Patients with mild, moderate and severe anxiety accounted for 61.18%, 28.23% and 10.59%, respectively. There were no significant differences in L, P or E scores between patients with mild and moderate pain (P>0.05). N scores of patients with mild pain were significantly lower than those with moderate pain (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in L or P scores between patients with different levels of anxiety (P>0.05). The order of N scores of patients with different levels of anxiety from low to high was as follows: mild, moderate, severe (P<0.05). The order of E score from high to low was as follows: mild, moderate, severe (P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that pain was positively correlated with neuroticism (r=0.198, P=0.001). Anxiety was positively correlated with neuroticism (r=0.205, P<0.001), but negatively correlated with introversion and extroversion (r=-0.312, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing impacted mandibular third molar extraction all have anxiety and postoperative pain, and there is an obvious correlation between anxiety and neuroticism, introversion and extroversion.

Key words: Mandibular third molar, Extraction, Pain, Anxiety, Personality traits