Pilot study comparing parents' and third‐grade schoolchildren's attitudes toward braces and perceived need for braces

Abstract

An instrument developed for third-grade schoolchildren and their parents was pilot-tested for its ability to measure orthodontic attitudes and perception of the child's need for braces. Seventy-eight children and 54 parents were surveyed. Forty-six percent of the children wanted braces while 61% believed that they needed braces. Correlation between desire for braces and perceived need was 0.47, suggesting that desire and perceived need were only moderately correlated in children. Sixty-three percent of the parents believed that their child needed braces. Despite such proportions of children and parents perceiving a need for treatment, three-fourths of the children and two-thirds of the parents were satisfied with the appearance of the child's teeth. Attitude subscales, derived from the attitude survey, and clinical orthodontic parameters were used to model children's and parents' perceived need for braces in the child. No clinical parameter was a significant correlate in either children's or parents' model of perceived need. Neither race nor gender contributed significantly to either model. The subscales Concern for Appearance and Social Aspects of Braces were the strongest covariates of children's perceived need for braces. Concern for Appearance was the most important correlate in the parents' model. These data suggest that parents' perceived need for orthodontic treatment for their third-grade children is determined primarily by a concern for appearance rather than clinical status. In third-graders, perceived aesthetics and social aspects apparently have more influence than clinical status in creating a perception of need for braces.

Reasons For Seeking Orthodontic Treatment A Pilot Study

“…The desire to have better dental appearance was the main reason why patients in this current study sought orthodontic treatment. This result is in agreement with most previously published studies (7,14,15).…”

Objective, Subjective, and Self‐Assessment of Preadolescent Orthodontic Treatment Need – A Function of Age, Gender, and Ethnic/Racial Background?

“…The Black children had the least need but desired orthodontics the most suggesting that a child's desire to have braces may not be a function of their actual need, but may be strongly affected by cultural or societal factors that make having braces a status symbol. A 1995 pilot study of third graders also suggested that a child's desire or perceived need of braces is influenced more by social aspects and self‐perceptions of esthetics than by the clinical status of their dentition (29). In addition, Tsakos and colleagues also pointed to the significant differences between normative assessments of children's oral health related needs and their OHRQoL measures (30).…”

Comparação da percepção e necessidade estética de tratamento ortodôntico entre pacientes e ortodontistas nas cidades de Natal/RN e João Pessoa/PB

“…2A) não sugere uma discrepância esquelética, e sim muscular. Isto reforça a importância de uma boa orientação aos pacientes e seus responsáveis [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . Em se tratando do aspecto do sorriso (Quadro 2), profissionais e pacientes de Natal valorizaram igualmente o sorriso da figura 3B e reconheceram, na mesma proporção, a presença do sorriso gengival e do excesso de visualização do corredor bucal nas figuras 3A e 3C, respectivamente.…”

“…Ambos os grupos (pacientes e profissionais) indicaram, em sua maioria, um tratamento efetivo para o sorriso gengival, enquanto as opiniões se dividiram igualmente quanto à necessidade de tratamento para o excesso de corredor bucal. Este aspecto, portanto, sempre deve ser discutido entre profissionais e pacientes [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . Observou-se o mesmo em João Pessoa (Quadro 2), com exceção da correção efetiva do sorriso gengival que, curiosamente, foi mais reivindicada pelos pacientes do que indicada pelos profissionais que, a partir de então, deverão abordar este assunto com maior interesse 7,13 .…”

“…Quanto ao aspecto dentário, há relatos que demonstram claramente a menor percepção da necessidade de tratamento por parte do leigo em relação ao ortodontista 6,10 , ocorrendo esta mesma tendência ao comparar-se os pacientes e seus respectivos pais 11 . No que se refere à decisão de se realizar uma cirurgia ortognática para a correção facial, Bell et al 1 também detectaram que os leigos mostraram-se menos rigorosos do que os cirurgiões e os ortodontistas.…”