# Thermography as a Method to Detect Dental Anxiety in Oral Surgery
## 3 Results  
S Sixty participants were enrolled in the study. Twenty-eight males and thirty-two females were recruited, and the mean age was 57.4 years-old (ranging from 18 to 80 years-old). Furthermore, 46 (76.7%) patients had an educational level \(\leq\) high school, while 14 (23.3%) \(\geq\) university college. All the patients correctly completed all the steps of the study (Table 1). Thirty-one participants had an MDAS score from 5 to 10 points (Group 1; non-significant dental anxiety), 14 participants from 11 to 18 points (Group 2; moderate dental anxiety), and 15 participants from 19 to 25 points (Group 3; severe dental anxiety). Only for nose and ear zone there was a statistically significant difference between measurements at baseline and visit (_p_ < 0.001). No differences were found between two measurements at zygoma, forehead and chin region (_p_ = 0.109, \(p\) = 0.182; \(p\) = 0.347 respectively) (Table 2). For nose region there was a statistical correlation between differences in temperature and MDAS scores (_p_ = 0.001) but not for age (_p_ < 0.001) and gender (_p_ = 0.183). For ear region there was a statistical correlation between differences in temperature and MDAS scores (_p_ < 0.001) and also for age (_p_ = 0.032) but not for gender (_p_ = 0.707) (Figures 3 and 4). In all of the other regions, no significant correlations between temperatures, MDAS scores, age, and gender were found. The linear regression identified age as a significant predictor for temperature changes in ROI 2 (Beta = \(-\)0.24, \(p\) = 0.046; R2 = 0.283), and MDAS as a significant predictor for temperature changes in ROI 4 (Beta = 1.276, \(p\) = 0.017; R2 = 0.168) (Table 3). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Age (Mean \(\pm\) Std. Dev.)** & **Gender (M/F \(n\); \%)** & **Education Level (Degree Y/N; \%)** \\ \hline
**Subjects (\(n\) = 60)** & 57.4 \(\pm\) 17.3 & 28/32; 46.7/53.3 & 46/14; 76.7/23.3 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Characteristics of patient population. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Roi 1** & **Roi 2** & **Roi 3** & **Roi 4** & **Roi 5** \\  & **(Nose)** & **(Ear)** & **(Zygoma)** & **(Gorehead)** & **(Chin)** \\ \hline
**Temperature at baseline** & & & & & \\ **(mean \(\pm\) std. dev.)** & 33.3 \(\pm\) 2.7 & 33.4 \(\pm\) 3.7 & 34.6 \(\pm\) 2.8 & 34.6 \(\pm\) 2.8 & 34.8 \(\pm\) 2.8 \\
**Temperature at visit 1** & & & & & \\ **(mean \(\pm\) std. dev.)** & 32.8 \(\pm\) 2.7 & 33.1 \(\pm\) 2.6 & 34.4 \(\pm\) 2.6 & 34.4 \(\pm\) 2.5 & 34.7 \(\pm\) 2.6 \\
**Temperature changes** & & & & & \\ **(mean \(\pm\) std. dev.)** & 0.45 \(\pm\) 0.87 & 0.25 \(\pm\) 1.03 & 0.18 \(\pm\) 0.87 & 0.15 \(\pm\) 0.86 & 0.10 \(\pm\) 0.82 \\
**Significance (\(p\))** & **\textless{0.001}** & **\textless{0.001}** & 0.109 & 0.183 & 0.347 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Differences of temperature between baseline and visit for each ROI. Figure 4: Baseline (**A**) and visit (**B**) thermal images in a patient with high dental anxiety. The colors between the two thermal recordings change in a significant way that correspond to a patient with a high score in the MDAS questionnaire. Figure 3: Baseline (**A**) and visit (**B**) thermal images in a patient with low dental anxiety. The thermal images show a lower change in temperature, that correspond to a patient with low score in the MDAS questionnaire.