Evaluation of Anxiety Levels Following Treatment-Related Information in Patients Undergoing Orthognathic Surgery

Background: Preoperative patient education is an essential component of orthognathic surgery. This study aimed to compare short-term changes in anxiety following separate orthodontic and surgical information consultations in patients scheduled for orthognathic surgery. Methods: This prospective observational study included 27 patients scheduled for bimaxillary orthognathic surgery. Participants attended standardized information consultations with an orthodontist and, approximately two weeks later, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Anxiety was assessed using the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and a visual analog scale (VAS). Trait anxiety (STAI-T) was assessed at baseline, state anxiety (STAI-S) was measured after each consultation, and VAS scores were recorded immediately before and after both consultations. The primary outcome was the within-participant difference between surgical and orthodontic VAS changes, analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Secondary comparisons were adjusted using the Holm method. Results: The mean age was 23.44 ± 5.20 years, and 59.3% of participants were female. VAS scores did not change significantly following orthodontic consultation (3.59 vs. 3.56; p = 0.891), whereas they increased significantly following surgical consultation (3.96 vs. 5.93; p < 0.001). The mean VAS changes were −0.04 ± 1.06 and 1.96 ± 1.29, respectively. The direct comparison of these changes demonstrated a significant difference between consultations (mean paired difference: 2.00 ± 1.59; p < 0.001). The mean baseline STAI-T score was 45.07 ± 5.89. Post-consultation STAI-S scores were higher after surgical than orthodontic consultation (46.96 ± 4.86 vs. 43.85 ± 6.24; p = 0.008; Holm-adjusted p = 0.015). Conclusions: VAS anxiety scores remained unchanged following orthodontic consultation but increased after surgical consultation, with a significant difference between the within-session changes. However, the fixed consultation sequence and proximity of the surgical consultation to the operation prevent causal attribution of these differences to consultation type. These findings support consideration of patients’ psychological responses throughout multidisciplinary preoperative care.