Outcome of a scheme for specialist orthodontic care.
With the purpose of examining the outcome of specialist orthodontic care on a population level (Halland, Sweden), a random sample of previously treated 19-year-olds (n=118) was clinically examined and interviewed. Thirty-three per cent of the cohort (n=1554) had received treatment, and mean treatment time was 19 months requiring 20 visits. Changes in occlusion were assessed using the PAR Index applied to dental study casts representing the pre- and post-treatment and follow-up (19 years) condition. The subjects' responses to questions addressing their past and present attitudes to dental appearance and orthodontic treatment were combined to represent "orthodontic concern", at the pre-treatment stage and at 19 years of age. A mean reduction in weighted PAR scores of 83% was observed from pre-treatment to post-treatment, whereas at follow-up, the net improvement was 69%. A significant shift in attitudes was observed, as 72% of the individuals expressed orthodontic concern pre-treatment compared to less than 10% at 19 years. The improvement obtained was similar to other studies on outcome of orthodontic treatment provided by specialist orthodontists. Compared to most PAR-studies providing information about orthodontic services, the present scheme appeared to be efficient on the assumption that duration of treatment and number of visits are expressions of costs.
Berset
G P
GP
Department of Orthodontics, University of Oslo, Norway.
Eilertsen
I M
IM
Lagerström
L
L
Espeland
L
L
Stenvik
A
A
D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017050:Episode of Care; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018024:Peer Review, Health Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011636:Public Health Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden