Evaluation of the Knowledge of Iranian Pedodontists in Relation to Cases Requiring Early Orthodontic Treatment: A Cross Sectional Study

Early orthodontic treatment deals with problems such as posterior crossbite and Cl III malocclusion and it is important to diagnose such cases and render proper treatment or refer the patients to an orthodontists at a proper time to carry out early orthodontic treatment. In the present descriptive/cross-sectional study, the knowledge of pedodontists in Iran in relation to cases requiring early orthodontic treatment were evaluated with two open questions. Of 120 pedodontists to whom the questionnaires had been sent, 54(45%) returned the questionnaires. The responses in the questionnaires were evaluated by two experienced orthodontists and the questionnaires were scored based on the criteria. The majority of pedodontists in the present study (87%) achieved a knowledge score in the range of 4‒9 (poor to moderate), indicating their need for education in orthodontic problems in children, diagnosis and referral of the patients requiring orthodontic treatment.