Dental Aesthetics Scale for Malocclusion
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Creation and validation of a quantifiable aesthetics scale to determine orthodontic treatment need
IRAS ID
357492
Contact name
Grant McIntyre
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
TASC - Tayside Medical Science Centre
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 3 months, 0 days
Research summary
The purpose of the study is to develop a new method for assessing the aesthetic impact of malocclusions (misalignment of teeth). Patients providing 3D intraoral scans for the use of the study will be anonymised with no other information needing to be provided. Orthodontists and lay people will evaluate short videos of each malocclusion in 3D before providing a Likert scale value for aesthetics. The survey will collect Likert scale results with 1 representing very poor aesthetics and 10 representing excellent aesthetics.
The values will be collated and evaluated for consistency and significance. Malocclusions will be classified based on the features of malocclusion included in the patient scan. These scans will be ordered by impact of malocclusion on aesthetics.
This order will help inform a new malocclusion aesthetic scale. This new scale will be validated, testing for reliability and reproducibility. A new aesthetic scale will provide information on the aesthetic impact of malocclusions to clinicians and policy makers. This information can then be used alongside the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) to help inform treatment need and the division of National Health Service (NHS) resources.
REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/PR/0736
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jul 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion