title: Effectiveness of a personalised referral letter following orthodontic screening.
abstract: No data exist on the usefulness of orthodontic screening in guiding those children who need orthodontic treatment towards professional advice. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a personalised referral letter following an orthodontic screening programme employing an objective measure of treatment need, the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Out of a total sample of 924 children aged 11-12 yr, 201 were in need of orthodontic treatment and no orthodontic treatment was planned. From this subsample test and control groups matched for sex, socio-economic background, dental disease and aesthetic impairment were created. Following screening, the parents of the test group only were sent a specific orthodontic referral letter. The dental practitioners of the children in the test and control groups were contacted during a follow-up investigation carried out 8 months later, this revealed that significantly more children entered orthodontic treatment pathways from the test group. This study demonstrated that a screening programme, using IOTN as a screening test, and a referral procedure which provided parents with specific information were successful in guiding over one third of children with a need for orthodontic treatment towards orthodontic advice.
authors: Orthodontic Division, Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom.
authors: D J
authors: DJ
authors: Burden
authors: C M
authors: CM
authors: Mitropoulos
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D015709:Correspondence as Topic; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D008403:Mass Screening; D015588:Observer Variation; D009970:Orthodontics / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012571:School Dentistry / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires