Social Media Use and Marketing within the Orthodontic Practice in Malaysia

ABSTRACT@#This study investigated personal and professional social media use among orthodontists in Malaysia, to determine marketing strategies and to identify potential determinants associated with their behaviours. A cross sectional study using an online questionnaire distributed to members of the Malaysian Association of Orthodontists (MAO). Data were analysed using SPSS software to derive descriptive statistics and analysis of variance was applied to compare responses between age groups and working sector. Responses to open ended questions were analysed using thematic analysis. A response rate of 41% was obtained (n = 72). Almost all respondents were social media users with Facebook being the most common online platform. Majority relied on traditional methods of marketing such as good service and image practice (94.4%), word of mouth (94.4%) and referrals (93.1%). Only 9.7% of respondents had adopted social media marketing but 23.6% had future plans to adopt it as their marketing strategy. Difference in knowledge of social media marketing was significantly different between age groups (p = 0.024). Concerns over patient confidentiality (p = 0.016) and risk of breaching online professional behaviour (p = 0.025), as reasons discouraging social media marketing was statistically significant between work sector groups. Most orthodontists in Malaysia use social media for personal use but only a minority incorporate it into their marketing strategies. Majority see its potential and predict its use will increase in the future.

Lower incisor changes following non-extraction orthodontic decompensation in Class III surgical cases

@#The amount of incisor decompensation during pre-surgical orthodontics may affect the outcome of Class III orthognathic cases. The purpose of this study was to assess the lower incisor changes post-orthodontic decompensation in Class III surgical cases and to investigate the amount of crowding as a predictive factor. This was a retrospective study reporting on 22 Class III orthognathic cases. The lower incisor angulation (LIA) and distance of the lower incisor edge to the A-Pogonion line (Li-APo) were measured on pre-treatment and presurgical lateral cephalograms whereas crowding was measured on digitised pre-treatment study models. Pearson’s correlation (p <0.05) was used to assess the correlation of crowding with LIA and Li-APo changes, and prediction of the lower incisor decompensation was conducted using linear regression analysis. Results showed lower incisors were retroclined at 79.84° ± 7.08° and positioned ahead of APo line by 6.52 mm ± 2.97 mm at the start of treatment. Pre-surgical LIA and Li-APo were found to increase following orthodontic decompensation to 90.43° ± 5.96° and 10.34 mm ± 3.25 mm, respectively. There was a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.592) between crowding and Li-APo changes which was statistically significant, p value = 0.004, and had a strong predictor with 31.8% predictability. However, LIA showed a weak correlation (r = 0.329) with crowding and was not statistically significant (p = 0.135). Li-APo changes during orthodontic decompensation can be predicted with 31.8% predictability using the formula; Li-APo change = 2.064 + 0.503 (crowding).