Factors influencing the desire for orthodontic treatment

TLDR

Desire for orthodontic treatment is influenced by perceived dental appearance, age, dental attendance, teasing, and visible occlusal irregularity. The study surveyed 200 children and 50 mothers during school dental inspections, recording subjective perceptions of dental appearance, objective occlusal irregularity, and accuracy of self‑assessment. Dissatisfaction was more common in girls and linked to age, dental attendance, and teasing, while the main predictor of treatment desire was visible occlusal irregularity; however, most children and parents could not accurately describe occlusal features or identify photographs, and accuracy was unrelated to recorded characteristics.

Abstract

During routine school dental inspections 100 boys and 100 girls were interviewed. Various characteristics of each child and his subjective feelings about his dental appearance and need for orthodontic treatment were recorded. The accuracy with which each child perceived his dental appearance was assessed from his ability to describe various anterior occlusal features and to identify a colour photograph of his own teeth. A similar procedure was conducted with the mothers of 50 of the children. Finally, an objective assessment of the degree of visible occlusal irregularity was made. Analysis of the data indicates that dissatisfaction with dental appearance was commoner among girls and associated with increasing age (over the short range studied), dental attendance pattern and the experience of teasing, but not with intelligence or social class. The majority of children and parents failed to describe the child's anterior occlusal characteristics accurately and almost one third of children and parents failed to identify the child's dental photograph. It was not however possible to find an association with any of the recorded characteristics of the child and the accuracy of occlusal self perception. Although the most important determinant of satisfaction with dental appearance and desire for orthodontic treatment was the degree of visible occlusal irregularity, many children with moderate to severe irregularities were satisfied with their dental appearance while others with minor irregularities, or none at all, were dissatisfied. Possible reasons for this are discussed.