Real-Time Subjective and Physiological Responses During Dental Treatment: Temporal Characteristics of Skin Temperature and Electrodermal Activity

Dental treatment can induce stress and discomfort in patients; however, how physiological responses evolve over the course of treatment remains unclear. This study investigated physiological and real-time subjective responses during dental treatment, focusing on the temporal characteristics of fingertip skin temperature (TMP) and electrodermal activity (EDA) and their relationships with subjective responses. Fourteen participants were exposed to extraoral suction noise and subsequently underwent dental scaling. TMP and EDA were continuously recorded using wearable sensors, while real-time discomfort (RTD) was assessed using a continuous subjective rating device. Questionnaires were administered before and after treatment. TMP decreased during the Noise-only and Treatment phases; in most participants, the minimum temperature was observed after treatment completion. EDA increased during and after treatment, with inter-individual variability in peak timing and temporal course. Whereas RTD rapidly decreased after treatment completion, physiological responses persisted into the Post-treatment phase. The results suggest that TMP and EDA exhibit different temporal characteristics. Temporal analyses provided additional information on response timing, persistence, and inter-individual variability beyond that obtained from phase-averaged analyses. Although these findings are exploratory, they suggest the importance of examining whether quantitative measures derived from continuous physiological signals adequately represent the temporal course of the underlying physiological responses.