title: Are specialist outreach clinics for orthodontic consultation effective? A randomised controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop outreach clinics for orthodontic consultation and evaluate their costs and effectiveness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single centre randomised controlled trial with random allocation of referred patients to outreach or main base consultation appointments.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hospital orthodontic department and three community health centre clinics in Greater Manchester. Subjects 324 patients who were referred for orthodontic treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The outcome of consultation, the cost and duration of the visit and the consumer's perceptions of the visit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in outcome of the consultation. While consumer travel costs and the duration of appointments were significantly higher for the main base clinics, these differences were not great. However, consumers preferred to attend an appointment in an outreach clinic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There do not appear to be marked advantages or disadvantages in providing consultation appointments for orthodontics in outreach clinics
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Medicine and Surgery, The University Dental Hospital of Manchester. Kevin.O'Brien@man.ac.uk
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mattick
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mandall
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Conboy
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gosden
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003796:Dental Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017050:Episode of Care; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D009970:Orthodontics / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome