Devi Karthikeyan Pavithra, Mathur V P, Kochhar K P, Bansal K, Tewari N, Morankar R, Jangra S, Sharma S, Lokade A K
Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2025 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s40368-025-01089-4.
The study aimed to use eye tracking technology to assess children's visual attention and preferences towards paediatric dentists and dental operatory. The secondary objective was to determine the stress levels associated with it.
A pilot study included 40 children aged 4-12 years. Eye movements were tracked using the View-Point eye tracker, measuring mean dwell time, total fixations, time to first fixation (TTFF), and total fixation time (TFT). Respiratory and heart rates were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and paired t-test (p < 0.05).
While no significant differences were observed in overall dwell times, TTFF, or TFT among image pairs, male children showed significantly higher dwell times and fixations for male dentist images (p = 0.02; 0.002), with similar results for female children viewing female dentist images (p = 0.007). TFT was longer for images of dentists in white coats (p = 0.008) and yellow dental chairs (p = 0.04). Stress levels did not significantly differ by gender or age.
Eye tracking proves to be a valuable tool in pediatric dentistry for assessing children's preferences. Children of a certain gender preferred dentists of the same gender, while most favoured dentists in white coats and yellow dental chairs. Further research with advanced technology can better explore children's dental preferences in paediatric dental settings.
本研究旨在运用眼动追踪技术评估儿童对儿科牙医及牙科诊疗室的视觉注意力和偏好。次要目标是确定与之相关的压力水平。
一项试点研究纳入了40名4至12岁的儿童。使用View-Point眼动追踪仪追踪眼动，测量平均注视时间、总注视次数、首次注视时间（TTFF）和总注视时间（TFT）。记录呼吸和心率。采用Wilcoxon秩和检验和配对t检验进行统计分析（p < 0.05）。
虽然在图像对之间的总体注视时间、TTFF或TFT方面未观察到显著差异，但男童对男性牙医图像的注视时间和注视次数显著更高（p = 0.02；0.002），女童观看女性牙医图像时结果类似（p = 0.007）。穿白大褂的牙医图像（p = 0.008）和黄色牙科椅图像（p = 0.04）的TFT更长。压力水平在性别或年龄方面无显著差异。
眼动追踪被证明是儿科牙科中评估儿童偏好的一种有价值的工具。特定性别的儿童更喜欢同性别牙医，而大多数人喜欢穿白大褂的牙医和黄色牙科椅。采用先进技术的进一步研究能够更好地探索儿科牙科环境中儿童的牙科偏好。
