Orthodontists' and patients' perceptions regarding techniques to reduce the orthodontic treatment duration.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate patients' and orthodontists' perspectives on knowledge of techniques for reducing orthodontic treatment time and acceptance of these techniques. METHODS: A total of 200 individuals were interviewed and equally divided into two groups: orthodontist group (62 female and 38 male; mean age, 38.07 years) and patient group (52 female and 48 male; mean age, 22.61 years; in the active stage of fixed orthodontic treatment). One questionnaire for each group was administered, including questions about the duration of orthodontic treatment and techniques used for treatment optimization, such as corticotomy, distraction osteogenesis, vibration, and laser therapy. The associations between variables were analyzed by the χ2 test at a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: Among orthodontists, 76% knew at least one technique to reduce the treatment duration, with corticotomy being the most frequently cited (66%); however, only 12% used one or more of these techniques. Laser therapy was the most frequently implemented technique (7%). Regarding the duration of orthodontic treatment, the mean time reported by orthodontists was 19 to 24 months, regardless of the technique or the experience of the orthodontist. Furthermore, 39% of patients expected their treatment to last for more than 24 months, with 50% accepting to undergo further procedures to reduce this duration. CONCLUSIONS: Patients are willing to undergo additional procedures to reduce the treatment duration and to bear additional costs. However, despite their knowledge, orthodontists do not apply or offer these techniques to the patients.

Evaluation of facial esthetics in long-faced white Brazilian middle school students.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine orthodontists' and layperson's perceptions about facial esthetics in a long face pattern sample. METHODS: The sample consisted of 64 frontal photographs of white Brazilian middle school students (9-15 years old), diagnosed as long faced through morphologic evaluation and confirmed by the facial index. A Likert-type scale was used to determine orthodontists' (22) and laypeople's (22) perceptions about facial esthetics. Chi-square and proportions tests were used for comparison between the examiners regarding the classification in each degree of esthetics, adopting a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: For orthodontists and laypeople, most of the subjects were considered to have acceptable appearance: 36.4% and 40.3%, respectively. Subjects whose appearance was classified as unpleasant constituted one-third of the sample: for orthodontists, 7.8% very unpleasant and 22.9% unpleasant, and 6.7% and 22.2%, respectively, for laypeople. The facial structures most cited as responsible for unpleasantness were the lack of lip sealing followed by incisor exposition. The increase of the lower third of the face for orthodontists and eyes for laypeople were the third most cited unpleasant characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: For the evaluators, two-thirds of the long face sample were considered to have an acceptable, pleasant, or very pleasant appearance. Laypeople's opinions aligned with the orthodontists', that one-third of long-face patients were considered to have an unpleasant appearance.