Are redheads more pain sensitive/phobic?

[londonscot]

There was an interesting little snippet in the Daily Mail (UK National newspaper) today which suggested that redheads are more susceptible to pain than average and are 'twice as likely to avoid the dentist'. Apparently they need up to 20 percent more general anaesthetic and are less responsive to local anaesthetic.

This forum must be the perfect place to prove or disprove this theory. I am not a redhead but I wonder how many here are? Do the dentists who are kind enought to visit and post here experience more problems with redheaded patients?

[Stress Doc]

Here is the abstract of an article from the American Dental Association. Very Interesting.

Genetic Variations Associated With Red Hair Color and Fear of Dental Pain, Anxiety Regarding Dental Care and Avoidance of Dental Care



Catherine J. Binkley, DDS, MSPH, PhD, Abbie Beacham, PhD, William Neace, PhD, Ronald G. Gregg, PhD, Edwin B. Liem, MD and Daniel I. Sessler, MD
Background. Red hair color is caused by variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene. People with naturally red hair are resistant to subcutaneous local anesthetics and, therefore, may experience increased anxiety regarding dental care. The authors tested the hypothesis that having natural red hair color, a MC1R gene variant or both could predict a patient’s experiencing dental care–related anxiety and dental care avoidance.
Methods. The authors enrolled 144 participants (67 natural red-haired and 77 dark-haired) aged 18 to 41 years in a cross-sectional observational study. Participants completed validated survey instruments designed to measure general and dental care–specific anxiety, fear of dental pain and previous dental care avoidance. The authors genotyped participants’ blood samples to detect variants associated with natural red hair color.
Results. Eighty-five participants had MC1R gene variants (65 of the 67 red-haired participants and 20 of the 77 dark-haired participants) (P < .001). Participants with MC1R gene variants reported significantly more dental care–related anxiety and fear of dental pain than did participants with no MC1R gene variants. They were more than twice as likely to avoid dental care as were the participants with no MC1R gene variants, even after the authors controlled for general trait anxiety and sex.
Conclusion. Dental care–related anxiety, fear of dental pain and avoidance of dental care may be influenced by genetic variations.
Clinical Implications. Dentists should evaluate all patients, but especially those with naturally red hair, for dental care–related anxiety and use appropriate modalities to manage the patients’ anxiety.

[drummerswife]

Fascinating!

[chellfairy]

!

Originally Posted by londonscot

There was an interesting little snippet in the Daily Mail (UK National newspaper) today which suggested that redheads are more susceptible to pain than average and are 'twice as likely to avoid the dentist'. Apparently they need up to 20 percent more general anaesthetic and are less responsive to local anaesthetic.

This forum must be the perfect place to prove or disprove this theory. I am not a redhead but I wonder how many here are? Do the dentists who are kind enought to visit and post here experience more problems with redheaded patients?

Wow! This is very interesting. I am a natural red head and without any real proof if it is genetically acurate, I can at least say there is probably some truth to that. I used to work for an ob/gyn doc and he always said that while operating on red heads, they tend to bleed more and they have a harder time stopping the bleeding with the red heads. This, I experienced, after haveing a surgery, my hemoglobin fell to a 5 and I had to have a transfusion.

[RP]

Originally Posted by Stress Doc

Here is the abstract of an article from the American Dental Association. Very Interesting.

Genetic Variations Associated With Red Hair Color and Fear of Dental Pain, Anxiety Regarding Dental Care and Avoidance of Dental Care



Catherine J. Binkley, DDS, MSPH, PhD, Abbie Beacham, PhD, William Neace, PhD, Ronald G. Gregg, PhD, Edwin B. Liem, MD and Daniel I. Sessler, MD
Background. Red hair color is caused by variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene. People with naturally red hair are resistant to subcutaneous local anesthetics and, therefore, may experience increased anxiety regarding dental care. The authors tested the hypothesis that having natural red hair color, a MC1R gene variant or both could predict a patient’s experiencing dental care–related anxiety and dental care avoidance.
Methods. The authors enrolled 144 participants (67 natural red-haired and 77 dark-haired) aged 18 to 41 years in a cross-sectional observational study. Participants completed validated survey instruments designed to measure general and dental care–specific anxiety, fear of dental pain and previous dental care avoidance. The authors genotyped participants’ blood samples to detect variants associated with natural red hair color.
Results. Eighty-five participants had MC1R gene variants (65 of the 67 red-haired participants and 20 of the 77 dark-haired participants) (P < .001). Participants with MC1R gene variants reported significantly more dental care–related anxiety and fear of dental pain than did participants with no MC1R gene variants. They were more than twice as likely to avoid dental care as were the participants with no MC1R gene variants, even after the authors controlled for general trait anxiety and sex.
Conclusion. Dental care–related anxiety, fear of dental pain and avoidance of dental care may be influenced by genetic variations.
Clinical Implications. Dentists should evaluate all patients, but especially those with naturally red hair, for dental care–related anxiety and use appropriate modalities to manage the patients’ anxiety.

Soooo that explains it.........

RP

[soscaredbackagain]

I am a natural redhead and I have a very low pain threshold and a lot of allergies too. That definitely makes sense to me.

[thornhilldentist]

Thanks for sharing this interesting dental research finding about redheads and dental phobia. Very interesting.

[Frank H]

When I first read "daily mail" I thought hmmm but the New York Times had a piece too

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/the-pain-of-being-a-redhead/