BACKGROUND: Dental fear is usually associated with hemodynamic changes. Fear of pain during the surgical removal of a lower impacted third molar might cause patients anxiety, thereby leading to avoidance of any future dental therapy. This study aimed to determine the effect of experiencing a surgical impacted-tooth removal on the pain perception-related anxiety and hemodynamic status. METHODS: Twenty-seven healthy patients aged 15–30 years (mean age, 24 years), for whom surgical removal of bilateral lower third molars was advised, were included. This prospective, randomized, controlled, split-mouth study involved operations on both sides of the mandibular arch, with a 1-month washout period in between. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured before the surgical procedure, during and after the injection, preoperatively, and postoperatively. Pain perception was evaluated using a 100-mm visual analog scale during the injection, preoperatively, and postoperatively after the numbness disappeared. Differences in the blood pressure, heart rate, and pain perception between the two appointments were analyzed using the paired t-test. For all statistical analyses, SPSS version 11.5 was used. RESULTS: The mean pain perception values during the injection and preoperatively showed no significant differences between the two appointments (P > 0.05); however, significant differences in the blood pressure and heart rate were noted before the surgical procedure; preoperatively, the blood pressure alone showed a significant difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant decrease in the blood pressure and heart rate preoperatively; hence, experiencing a surgical impacted-tooth removal can reduce the subsequent preoperative anxiety in healthy patients.
Anxiety* ; Appointments and Schedules ; Blood Pressure ; Dental Anxiety ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Molar, Third ; Pain Perception ; Prospective Studies ; Visual Analog Scale

Objectives: Orthognathic surgery is used to treat moderate to severe occlusal discrepancies. Examinations and measurements for preoperative screening are essential procedures. A careful analysis is needed to decide whether cases require orthognathic surgery. This study developed screening software using a multi-layer perceptron to determine whether orthognathic surgery is required. Methods: In total, 538 digital lateral cephalometric radiographs were retrospectively collected from a hospital data system. The input data consisted of seven cephalometric variables. All cephalograms were analyzed by the Detectron2 detection and segmentation algorithms. A keypoint region-based convolutional neural network (R-CNN) was used for object detection, and an artificial neural network (ANN) was used for classification. This novel neural network decision support system was created and validated using Keras software. The output data are shown as a number from 0 to 1, with cases requiring orthognathic surgery being indicated by a number approaching 1. Results: The screening software demonstrated a diagnostic agreement of 96.3% with specialists regarding the requirement for orthognathic surgery. A confusion matrix showed that only 2 out of 54 cases were misdiagnosed (accuracy = 0.963, sensitivity = 1, precision = 0.93, F-value = 0.963, area under the curve = 0.96). Conclusions Orthognathic surgery screening with a keypoint R-CNN for object detection and an ANN for classification showed 96.3% diagnostic agreement in this study.