Redheads at pains to avoid regular visits to the dentist

MOST PEOPLE dislike going to the dentist but redheads are more likely to avoid the ordeal than those with other hair colours, according to new research.

And it seems as though redheads’ fears are warranted as the study findings follow on from earlier research which shows that redheads are genetically more resistant to anaesthesia and, as a consequence, may find dental procedures to be more painful than others.

The latest study, the results of which are published in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, reveals that redheads are twice as likely to avoid going to the dentist as people with other hair colours.

Dr Daniel Sessler, an anaesthesiologist and chairman of the department of outcomes research at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, has been involved in the research since the beginning.

He told The Irish Timesthat the studies undertaken so far have shown that red hair colour results from a mutation of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene which normally controls the amount of melanin, and thus hair and skin colouring.

This receptor, or another in the melanocortin family, also apparently increases pain sensitivity.

“Our 2004 study was done in response to an urban legend in the anaesthesia community that redheads are ‘difficult’ to anaesthetise. The results showed that redheads indeed require about 20 per cent more general anaesthesia than people with other hair colours. This was followed in 2005 by a study showing that redheads sense more pain and are resistant to the effects of local anaesthesia,” said Dr Sessler.