Influence of supplemental written information on adolescent anxiety, motivation and compliance in early orthodontic treatment.
OBJECTIVE
To test the null hypotheses that supplementation of verbal information with written information when obtaining consent to orthodontic treatment has no effect on (1) anxiety, motivation and apprehension related to treatment and (2) compliance in the early stages of fixed appliance therapy.


METHODS
Seventy-six adolescents who were due to start fixed appliance therapy were randomly allocated to receive verbal information only or verbal and written information before orthodontic treatment. Participants' anxiety, motivation, and apprehension were assessed using a questionnaire that was completed prior to meeting the orthodontic clinician (T1), following consent to treatment (T2), and after 12 weeks of treatment (T3). Appointment attendance, appliance breakages, and periodontal scores were used as measures of patient compliance.


RESULTS
Sixty participants completed the study. At T2 there was no change in anxiety scores for either group (P = .412); however, increased motivation was detected in the group that had been given both written and verbal information (P = .049). At T3 both groups demonstrated similar reductions in anxiety (P = .311) and apprehension (P = .790) and similar levels of motivation (P = .756). A reduction in periodontal scores (P = .065), better appointment attendance (P = .732), and fewer breakages (P = .525) were reported in the group that was given additional information, although these changes were not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Supplementation of verbal information with written information resulted in improved motivation for orthodontic treatment but had no statistically significant effect on anxiety, apprehension, or patient compliance.
Wright
Natasha S
NS
Orthodontics, Royal London Dental Hospital, London, United Kingdom. tashswright@hotmail.com
Fleming
Padhraig S
PS
Sharma
Pratik K
PK
Battagel
Joanna
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000523:psychology*; D010174:Pamphlets; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires