Evaluation of the parameters underlying the decision by adult patients to opt for lingual therapy: an international comparison.
BACKGROUND
The present study is the first instance of patients having been questioned on the criteria applied in their decision for therapy with lingual brackets and on the sources of information available to them within the framework of an international comparison prior to the start of therapy by means of a standardized questionnaire.


METHODS
68 patients (19 male, 49 female; mean age 32.4 years, range 19.8 to 60.0 years, SD 9.7) were interviewed.


RESULTS
Therapy with lingual brackets was more important to the patients in the present study for professional than for private reasons: The further the patients were from the typical "braces age", the more important was treatment with an invisible appliance from the professional standpoint. The patients' educational level had no influence on the decision for a fixed lingual appliance. There was no significant difference between the German and the French patients in the decision-making criteria of adult patients and the sources of information available to them in the context of the lingual technique.


CONCLUSIONS
The information available through the media on the lingual technique is inadequate in both countries.
Hohoff
Ariane
A
Department of Orthodontics, University of Münster, Germany. hohoffa@uni-muenster.de
Wiechmann
Dirk
D
Fillion
Didier
D
Stamm
Thomas
T
Lippold
Carsten
C
Ehmer
Ulrike
U
D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003657:Decision Making; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016382:Orthodontic Appliance Design; D016910:Orthodontic Brackets; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014059:Tongue