## 3 Results
### First-Time Dental Hygiene Visit
#### 3.8.1 First-Time Dental Hygiene Visit and Changes in the Level of Dental Fear  
The study analyzed the impact of a first-time dental hygiene visit on the level of dental fear, as measured by the Gatchel scale, both before and after the hygiene procedure (Table 16). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Dental Fear (Gatchel’s Scale)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Mean**} \\ \cline{2-3}  & **First-Time Hygiene Visit** & **Subsequent Hygiene Visit** \\ \hline Before hygiene procedure & 4.58 & 3.54 \\ \hline After hygiene procedure & 3.19 & 3.01 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 16: The mean values of dental fear on the Gatchel scale depending on the first-time hygiene visit. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**Variable**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Test Result: rs—Spearman’s Rank Correlation (\(p\) < 0.0500)**} \\ \cline{2-6}  & \multirow{2}{*}{**Dental Anxiety**} & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Dental Fear** \\ **(Gatchel’s Scale)** \\ **before Hygiene** \\ **Procedure** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Dental Fear** \\ **(Gatchel’s Scale)** \\ **Scale)** \\ **before Hygiene** \\ **Procedure** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Dental Fear** \\ **(Gatchel’s Scale)** \\ **before Hygiene** \\ **Procedure** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Fear Related** \\ **to Hygiene** \\ **before Hygiene** \\ **Procedure** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Fear Related** \\ **to Hygiene** \\ **after** \\ **Procedure** \\ \end{tabular} } \\ \hline Dental anxiety (MDAS) & 1.00 & 0.79 & 0.67 & 0.65 & 0.59 \\ \hline Trait anxiety (STAI X2) & NS & NS & NS & 0.13 & NS \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} Dental fear (Gatchel’s scale) \\ before hygiene procedure \\ \end{tabular} & 0.79 & 1.00 & 0.79 & 0.72 & 0.66 \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} Dental fear (Gatchel’s scale) after \\ hygiene procedure \\ \end{tabular} & 0.67 & 0.79 & 1.00 & 0.57 & 0.73 \\ \hline \
\begin{tabular}{c} Fear related to hygiene before \\ procedure \\ \end{tabular} & 0.65 & 0.72 & 0.57 & 1.00 & 0.79 \\ \hline
\begin{tabular}{c} Fear related to hygiene after \\ procedure \\ \end{tabular} & 0.59 & 0.66 & 0.73 & 0.79 & 1.00 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note: NS—not statistically significant.  
\end{table} 
Table 15: Intercorrelations of variables measuring fear and anxietyThe Friedman ANOVA test was applied to analyze repeated measurements in two groups: patients attending their first-ever dental hygiene visit and those undergoing a subsequent procedure of this type (Table 17). These results indicate that both R1 (dental fear before and after the hygiene procedure) and the interaction between R1 and a first-time dental hygiene visit have a significant impact on the dependent variable. The fact that the hygiene visit was a first-time occurrence on its own does not have a significant effect; however, changes in dental fear differ significantly depending on this factor. The chart (Figure 21) shows that the level of dental fear measured on the Gatchel's scale decreases in both groups: patients who had their first-time hygiene visit and those who did not. However, these changes are more pronounced in the group of individuals who had their first-time hygiene visit. Figure 21: Change in dental fear levels (Gatchel’s scale) before and after the procedure depending on the first-time hygiene visit (red line—trend line for first-time hygiene visits; blue line—trend line for subsequent hygiene visits).