Self-perception of smile attractiveness as a reliable predictor of increased patient compliance with an orthodontist

Abstract

Background. Predicting the cooperation of orthodontic patients seems to be of the utmost importance for successful results in treatment with removable appliances, especially if their cost is to be covered from public funding. Therefore, the issue of unbiased pre-treatment assessment of cooperation still calls for an investigation. Objectives. The objective of this study was to check whether smile attractiveness and its importance, subjectively evaluated by the patients/their caregivers, are reliable predictors of a patient's compliance during treatment with removable appliances. Material and methods. The study group comprised 97 patients aged 9-12 years, treated with active plates or twin-blocks, equipped with the TheraMon ® system. Before treatment, the caregivers and the patients filled out the questionnaires ranking both of the investigated variables. After 9 months of treatment, we analyzed the correlations of the daily wear time (DWT) and other variables. Results. The analysis revealed the following: no relevance of the DWT to the type of removable appliances; negative correlation between the DWT and smile attractiveness assessed by the children and their caregivers; evidently elongated DWT (up to 9.68 h in children), who, together with the caregivers, evaluated their smile attractiveness as poor; coherence of children's and their caregivers' responses evaluating smile attractiveness and its importance, as well as the lack of consistency when comparing responses provided separately by the children and their caregivers. Conclusions. Application of the TheraMon ® sensors objectively proved that the patient's smile attractiveness ranked subjectively as low predicts the orthodontic patient's irreproachable cooperation. Therefore, our easy-to-use questionnaire calls for changing the protocol regarding the wearing time of removable appliances during treatment and introducing an evidence-based policy of reimbursement for such therapy from public funds. Further investigation of the effectiveness of removable appliances worn shorter than previously presumed and of the motivation to continue treatment, once smile attractiveness has been improved, is necessary.

Psychological and Social Effects of Oral Health and Dental Aesthetic in Adolescence and Early Adulthood: An Observational Study

“…The overall assessment of facial aesthetics is very complex and must take into account numerous and different factors that can affect facial and dental aesthetics that can be related both to hard and soft tissues [36][37][38]; moreover, the use of 3D low dose CT investigation allows for an extremely more accurate evaluation of the anatomical structures of the facial mass and therefore to carry out a therapeutic program that takes into account the aesthetic effects of a corrective treatment of the dento-skeletal structures [39,40]. The results of our research once again highlight the importance of dental aesthetics in the lives of adolescents and young adults, with particular reference to the female gender, emphasizing the relevance of psychological parameters in orthodontic research and clinical practice, in line with well-known literature items [41][42][43].…”

The Impact of General Self-efficacy and the Severity of Malocclusion on Acceptance of Removable Orthodontic Appliances in 10- to 12-year-old Patients

“…In other words, the patients' acceptance remained stable during rst 5 months of treatment. This nding not only is in agreement with the results of Sergl et al [23] who found no signi cant change in the frequency of patient complaints regarding orthodontic appliance after 6-month assessment period; it is also the evidence-based ampli cation of research by Sarul et al, who proved that a patient's low evaluation of their smile is a reliable predictor of cooperation, prior to treatment beginning [24]. Altogether, it allows summing up that use of psychological tests for prediction of a patient's compliance can be helpful for clinicians hesitating, whether to start an early treatment of malocclusion or to postpone the therapy until camou age or orthognathic protocols may be introduced.…”

The impact of general self-efficacy and the severity of malocclusion on acceptance of removable orthodontic appliances in 10- to 12-year-old patients

“…This finding is in agreement with the results of Sergl et al [23] who found no significant change in the frequency of patient complaints regarding orthodontic appliance after 6-month assessment period. Moreover, this result is the evidence-based strengthening point for the research by Sarul et al, who proved that a patient's low evaluation of their smile is a reliable predictor of cooperation, before the beginning of the treatment [24]. Altogether, it allows summing up that use of psychological tests for prediction of a patient's compliance can be helpful for clinicians who are uncertain whether to start removable orthodontic treatment of malocclusion or to postpone the therapy until camouflage or orthognathic protocols are introduced.…”