Vanilmandelic acid: an alternative for measuring dental stress in children

Past research has indicated that stressful situations can cause heightened adrenal activity. This increased adrenal activity causes an increased urinary excretion of vanilmandelic acid (VMA), the major urinary by-product of epinephrine and norepinephrine. The purpose of this study was to determine if the measurement of VMA in urine could be a simple objective means to biochemically measure dental stress in children. Twenty (62.5%) of the 32 children who participated in this study demonstrated a VMA value measured during dental treatment that was greater than the VMA value measured in the home. The mean dental treatment VMA level was found to be 19.1% greater than the mean home VMA level. A dependent t-test was calculated for the home and dental treatment VMA values and was found to be significant at the 0.1 level. Both the home and dental school VMA levels were correlated against the age and sex of the children. In addition, the dental school VMA level was correlated against the number of dental appointments the children received at the pediatric dentistry clinic. The dental school VMA levels correlated positively with age and were significant at the 99% confidence level.