Psychological and Physiological Relaxation Using Yoga in Patients Undergoing Dental Implant Surgery: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial with Biomarker Assessment

Abstract Scientific evidence on the benefits of yoga among patients undergoing dental implant surgery is sparse. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of performing yoga on the vital signs and salivary cortisol in patients undergoing dental implant surgery. This study was conducted in an outpatient prosthodontics clinic during June–July 2019 as a pilot outcome assessor-blinded randomized trial with parallel design. A total of 20 patients requiring dental implant surgery were divided into two groups, with 10 patients in each group. Control group patients underwent implant surgery without yoga. In the intervention group, patients were trained to perform yoga, which included breathing exercises and meditation practiced for 10 minutes, and then underwent implant surgery. Vital signs (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature) and salivary cortisol were recorded before (baseline) and after (post-surgery) implant surgery in both groups. There was no significant difference in the baseline values between the control and intervention groups. Mean vital sign and salivary cortisol values significantly increased from baseline to post-surgery in the control group. All vital signs except salivary cortisol significantly decreased from baseline to postsurgery in the yoga intervention group. Heart rate and temperature showed significant decreases in postsurgery values between the control and intervention groups. There was no significant correlation between vital signs and salivary cortisol at baseline and postsurgery between the control and intervention groups. This study provides preliminary evidence for the beneficial effects of yoga in reducing anxiety and stress in those undergoing dental implant surgery.