title: Orthodontic treatment of children/adolescents with special health care needs: an analysis of treatment length and clinical outcome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this retrospective study was to analyse the treatment time and differences between the pre- and post-treatment peer assessment rating (PAR) index and aesthetic component (AC) of the index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN) scores in children/adolescents with special health care needs (SHCNs), compared to non-special health care needs (NSHCNs) controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on certain inclusion and exclusion criteria, medical records of SHCNs and randomly selected NSHCNs controls at the Department of Orthodontics, University Hospital Muenster were analysed retrospectively for the treatment time, number of appointments, chair time ("moderate" or "considerable"), PAR scores, and AC scores. Sample size calculation, descriptive statistics, and explorative analyses were performed using the Mann-Whitney U Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-nine children with SHCNs (21 boys, 9 girls; median age: 11 years, pre-treatment) and 29 children with NSHCNs (12 boys, 17 girls; median age: 12 years, pre-treatment) were enrolled in this study.The overall treatment time did not differ between the patient groups. However, more "considerable chair time" was needed for the SHCNs group compared to the control group (p < 0.05), whereas "moderate chair time" was more often needed in patients with NSHCNs (p = 0.001).The age of the patients at the first and last appointments showed significant statistical differences: children in the SHCNs group commenced orthodontic treatment earlier, by a median of 1 year, compared to children in the NSHCNs group.The SHCNs group had significantly higher pre- and post-treatment PAR scores (median 21/median 6) and AC scores (median 9/median 3) compared to NSHCNs patients (PAR: median 17/median 0; AC: median 5/median 1).However, the overall treatment time and the overall PAR and AC score reduction did not differ significantly between the SHCNs and NSHCNs groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While the overall treatment time and number of appointments did not differ, the overall chair time was higher in the SHCNs group. The pre- and post-treatment PAR and AC scores were significantly higher in the SHCNs group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, University Hospital Muenster, Westphalian Wilhelms-University, Muenster, Germany. blancklubarsch@uni-muenster.de.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blanck-Lubarsch
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hohoff
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wiechmann
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stamm
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000150:complications; D019140:Dental Care for Children; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D061326:Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000628:therapy; D016382:Orthodontic Appliance Design; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome