Medical hypnosis is a safe and effective complementary technique for use in medical procedures and in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Waking suggestions can be a component of effective doctor-patient communication in routine clinical situations.

IntroductionMost dental procedures require a dry working environment. Although many evaporative drying methods are available, an additional reduction of salivary flow would often be helpful.MethodsThis prospective randomized cross-over study compares salivary production in 31 volunteers during direct, indirect, and non-suggestive (control group) intervention. Overall, each volunteer underwent four salivation measurements, i.e. two measurements during two different types of hypnotic suggestion (indirect and direct) arranged in random order and two control sections. All four measurements were conducted successively.ResultsBoth suggestive methods significantly reduced salivary production in comparison to the two control sections (direct suggestion Δ = 1.46 grams per 5 min, p < 0.001, indirect suggestion Δ = 0.94 grams per 5 min, p = 0.039). Direct suggestion showed a significantly higher reduction of salivary production than indirect suggestion (Δ = -0.53 grams per 5 min, p = 0.001).ConclusionsHypnotic suggestion represents a simple and inexpensive method to reduce salivation and could thus create a better working environment for more comfortable dental treatments for both patients and dentists.

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