A Survey on Knowledge of Patients about Orthodontic Treatment who Visits Dental College

Objective To describe patients expectations of orthodontic treatment. Design A questionnaire survey of 50 patients and their primary care-givers attending a new patient orthodontic consultant clinic, at a teaching hospital. Subjects The sample consisted of 50 participants who completed the questionnaire, patients aged 17-20 years who had been referred to the orthodontic department for treatment. Materials and methods Participants completed a valid questionnaire measure of orthodontic expectations that was tested for reliability and validity. Descriptive analysis of the responses was undertaken. Results On visiting to the orthodontic clinic, about 66 % patients prefer is check up and diagnosis, and they least prefer taking radiographs and impressions. Patients mostly prefer fixed appliance and they are more concerned about the aesthetics. And about 33 % of them expect the treatment would last for 1-2 years, and they prefer to visit every month for the review. About 36 % of them prefer to have an aligned tooth and they want to be satisfied with the treatment, rather than preferring better mastication and speech. Conclusions According to the study conducted, patients prefer check up and diagnosis on first visit, fixed appliance and good teeth alignment. They are more concerned about the post treatment appearance, duration of the treatment, regular review to the orthodontists and cost of the treatment. Most importantly, they expect the outcome of the treatment should be satisfied.