Social barriers towards orthodontic treatment need

ABSTRACT

In the recent past, though number of patients requiring orthodontic treatment has significantly increased but at the same time parents / patients have certain social constraints such as age, gender bias, poor socio-economic status, nature of job, importance of orthodontic treatment need, treatment time, number of dental surgery visits, associated pain and discomfort, aesthetics during treatment, extraction need and orthognathic surgery need, which refrain parents / patients from undergoing orthodontic treatment and at times considerable counseling is needed. Aim of this study was to find out the common barriers towards orthodontic treatment. A total of 250 physically and mentally healthy participants' age 18-45 years were included in this study. These patients filled a consent form and a valid questionnaire identifying barriers towards orthodontic treatment. SPSS 17.0 was used for statistical evaluation. It was inferred from the results that in third world countries like Pakistan specially in private setup medical / dental institutions, major constrains towards orthodontic treatment were poor socioeconomic status, nature of job not allowing repeated visits / long duration, long duration in case of females due to marriage age, extraction need and orthognatic surgery need