title: Orthodontic care in suburban Cuyahoga County, Ohio: who provides treatment and whom do they treat?
abstract: It has been reported that orthodontic services are being provided to a larger segment of the population by an increasing number of providers. The present study surveyed the dental and orthodontic experiences of 10th grade students attending 16 public and two parochial high schools in suburban Cuyahoga County, Ohio, as well as two schools from the city of Cleveland. Questionnaires were distributed in the classroom and data obtained for 2808 students. Approximately 50% of the sample were girls with an average age of 15.5 +/- 0.8 years. Results of the survey revealed that 84% (2371/2808) had seen a dentist within the past year, and 37% (1047/2808) of the students had received orthodontic treatment from 171 different providers. Of those treated, 87.2% (913/1047) were treated by a specialist in orthodontics, 10.8% (114/1047) by a general dentist, and 0.7% (7/1047) by a pediatric dentist, with 1.3% missing or unknown (13/1047). Patients who had seen a dentist within the past year were more likely to have had orthodontic treatment. Only 7% of the untreated students were told by a dental professional that they needed braces compared with 71% of the treated group. Therefore, we conclude that orthodontic specialists provide most of the orthodontic services in the suburbs of Cuyahoga County, and visiting a general dentist positively influences the utilization of orthodontic services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4905, USA. mgh4@cwru.edu
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hans
authors.forename: Nhat Minh
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Armogan
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abei
authors.forename: Lowell
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.forename: Suchitra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009820:Ohio; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires