Epidemiologic evidence of barometric pressure changes inducing increased reporting of oral pain

Abstract

Background and objective The daily patient flow at dental emergency departments is subject to fluctuations. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether meteorological parameters were associated with the number of patients reporting acute pain in the oral cavity. Methods We performed a retrospective review of all patients presenting with acute oro-dental pain ( n = 1090) at the dental outpatient clinic in Innsbruck, Austria from January to March 2005. In addition, local weather data were supplied by the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics Austria. After exponential smoothing of both series of observations, linear regression on the number of patients was performed. Results Statistical analysis revealed that the acute pain symptoms are not related to the air pressure itself but to the deviation of air pressure. The stronger the daily deviation from the average atmospheric pressure was, the more patients presented with acute pain at the dental emergency department ( p = 4.2 × 10 −14). Our findings implicate that the association of air pressure deviation with variation in patient flow at dental clinics is a consequence of barometric pressure-related oral pain. Conclusions These findings suggest that changes in barometric pressure were the reason for the observed initiation and/or exacerbation of the various oral pains observed in the emergency room setting. This association has been considered to be rare, with most reports suggesting this phenomenon primarily affects divers and aircraft personnel. Our data suggests otherwise, by providing clear evidence that atmospheric pressure changes commonly influences painful oral conditions.