Redheads Fear Dentists More Than Most

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Reinforcing earlier research that redheads are more resistant to general and local anesthesia and therefore more sensitive to pain, Dr. Daniel Sessler, professor and chair of the Cleveland Clinic's Outcomes Research, and other researchers interviewed 144 people who were natural redheads and brunets about anxiety, fear of dental pain and whether they avoided dental care. The results were that 85 people with the genetic variant associated with red hair reported significantly more dental care-related anxiety and fear of dental pain than the others. Consequently, they were more than twice as likely to avoid dental care, even after researchers controlled for general trait anxiety and gender differences.

Redheads have a genetic variant that is responsible for their red hair. Researchers have found this mutation also stimulates a brain receptor related to pain sensitivity.

Sessler says the study, published this month in the Journal of the American Dental Association, shows that dentists should pay special attention to those with naturally red hair, and adjust accordingly. "This is one more piece of evidence that redheads sense more pain and that it seems to have an effect on their lives," he said. Sessler said he and his fellow anesthesiologists suspected for years that titian-haired patients were difficult to anesthetize, but until recently had no data to back up their suspicions. His study in 2004 suggested that redheads need about 20 percent more anesthesia than others.