Analysis of gaze points for mouth images using an eye tracking system

Abstract

Purpose: We aimed to clarify whether people stare at non-esthetic restorations by analyzing the gaze point of laypersons looking at mouth images with intraoral non-esthetic restoration.

Methods: The gaze points of 47 laypersons who do not visit dentists were measured using an eye tracker. The stimuli were 18 photographs of mouths with or without a non-esthetic tooth restoration, each randomly shown for 5s. The analysis sites included a tooth with nonesthetic restoration and the same tooth on the opposite side of the mouth. We measured the proportion of participants who first fixated on each analysis site, and total fixation time for each site.

Results: In images without non-esthetic restorations, a similar proportion of participants first fixated on each analysis site. However, more participants first fixated on non-esthetic restorations when the images contained them. Total fixation time for each site did not differ significantly between the left and right sides in the images without non-esthetic restoration (P>0.05). Participants fixated on the non-esthetic restoration significantly more in the images containing them (P<0.01).

Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, the present findings suggest that in photographs of the mouth with non-esthetic restoration on either side, the non-esthetic restoration is first gazed before the opposite side. In addition, the non-esthetic restoration is gazed longer than the opposite side, and there was no major difference in the fixation time regarding the state of non-esthetic restoration.