Patients and parents’ perspectives of orthodontic treatment (v1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Patients and parents’ perspectives of the need for orthodontic treatment and orthodontic appliances. Do socioeconomic and psychosocial factors have an impact?
IRAS ID
314817
Contact name
Jayne Harrison
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
The views of children and adolescents have not been widely explored, despite them being the main recipient group for orthodontic treatment. Most previous orthodontic studies have investigated treatment techniques and outcomes determined by specialists. There is a need to consider the opinions of adolescents because it is not sufficient to focus solely on professionally determined outcomes. Listening to and understanding patients' feelings and utilising a person-centred approach to healthcare is the most effective way to deliver quality care. This study aims to explore patients' and parents' views on orthodontic treatment and treatment need. It also seeks to examine patients' perspectives on different orthodontic appliances throughout treatment.
Furthermore, it will also aim to assess the impact of socio-economic status (SES) on objective versus perceived orthodontic treatment need. Participants will be recruited, along with their parents, to an interview-based qualitative study prior to starting their planned orthodontic treatment. Participants will then be asked to complete a questionnaire to assess their perceived need for treatment. Participants will also be asked to record video diaries of their prospective orthodontic journey to determine the impact of orthodontic appliances on their daily lives. This study aims to provide a meaningful insight into patient-related outcomes and expectations, which could be used to address future patient concerns, offer effective solutions; and, hence, improve the overall quality of care. The study will be undertaken in the orthodontic department of a dental teaching hospital with a high flow of NHS patients, within the eligible age criteria.Summary of Results
Why was the study done?
We wanted to find out about:
1) things that affected how teenage patients thought about their teeth and
2) the impact their teeth had on how teenagers felt about themselves.What did the researchers do?
We used a questionnaire to ask 100 teenage patients how they felt about their teeth and the impact their teeth had on they felt about themselves.
We talked with 9 teenagers and their parent/guardian, about what they thought about their teeth; why they wanted brace treatment and problems they had with wearing braces.What did the researchers find?
We found out that nearly half of participants were upset by their teeth and for a third of participants, this affected their day-to-day life in a bad way. We also found that girls were more upset about their teeth than boys and those who thought they needed brace treatment were more upset. However, age, need for brace treatment and social background did not affect how upset the participants were about their teeth.What do the findings mean?
We thought that in general, girls were more affected by poor looking teeth than boys and that what we, as orthodontists, thought about participants teeth didn't match how individual participants felt about them or the impact they had on their life.
In the future, we may use the questionnaire regularly to measure how patients feel about their teeth before they start brace treatment.REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/0955
Date of REC Opinion
30 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion