title: Quality of orthodontic treatment performed by orthodontists and general dentists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To perform a blind comparative evaluation of the quality of orthodontic treatment provided by orthodontists and general dentists.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty cases of orthodontic treatment were evaluated-30 treated by specialists in orthodontics and 30 treated by general dentists with no specialization course. Orthodontists were selected randomly by lots, in a population of 1596 professionals, and recordings were performed based on the guideline established by the Objective Grading System proposed by the American Board of Orthodontics. Each participant was asked to present a case considered representative of the best outcome among the cases treated, regardless of the type or initial severity of the malocclusion. Statistical analysis involved the chi-square, Wilcoxon, and Mann-Whitney tests. The level of significance was set at P  =  .05 for the statistical tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that 29 orthodontists (96.7%) presented cases considered satisfactory and would be approved on the qualification exam, whereas only 15 dentists (50%) had cases considered satisfactory. Moreover, treatment time was significantly shorter among the orthodontists (P  =  .022), and the posttreatment comparison revealed that orthodontists achieved better outcomes considering all the variables studied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Orthodontists spend less time on treatment and achieve better quality outcomes than cases treated by general dentists who have not undergone a specialization course in orthodontics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Vale do Rio Verde University - UNINCOR, Minas Gerais, Brazil. lsmarques.prof@gmail.com
authors.forename: Leandro Silva
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Nacler de
authors.initials: Nd
authors.lastname: Freitas Junior
authors.forename: Luciano José
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Maria Letícia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ramos-Jorge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017050:Episode of Care; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000628:therapy*; D009970:Orthodontics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult