Comparison of personality traits, attitude toward orthodontic treatment, and pain perception and experience before and after orthodontic treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To compare personality traits, attitude toward orthodontic treatment, and pain perception and experience before and after orthodontic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred subjects (50 male and 50 female) were included in this study. The mean (SD) age was 17.5 (2.05) years at T1 and 19.15 (2.32) years at T2. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires that included assessment of patients' personality traits, attitudes toward orthodontic treatment, and pain perception/experience. Subjects completed the questionnaires at two different times: before orthodontic treatment (T1) and after fixed orthodontic treatment (T2). Subjects were treated by fixed orthodontic appliances for an average (SD) period of 18.64 (0.35) months. Paired sample t-test and chi-square test were used to detect any differences. RESULTS: Significant changes in personality traits were detected after orthodontic treatment irrespective of gender. Neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness scores were improved (P < .001). A positive attitude toward orthodontic treatment was reported at T1 (4.31 [±1.26]) and improved at T2 (3.98 [±1.16]) irrespective of gender (P < .05). The average (SD) expected pain score (T1) was 4.73 (1.88) and the average (SD) experienced pain score (T2) was 4.63 (1.58). Significant difference in the expected and experienced pain scores was not detected (P  =  .11). CONCLUSIONS: Personality traits and attitude toward orthodontic treatment improved after orthodontic treatment. Reported actual pain experience during orthodontic treatment was similar to that expected before treatment.

The relationship between personality traits, pain perception and attitude toward orthodontic treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between personality traits and a person's attitude toward orthodontic treatment and perception of pain during orthodontic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of two groups: group 1 consisted of 200 untreated subjects (100 males, 100 females; average age, 21.50 +/- 3.35 years), and group 2 consisted of 200 treated subjects (100 males, 100 females; average age, 20.92 +/- 2.48 years). The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire that included assessment of patients' personality profiles, pain expectation for untreated subjects, pain experience for treated subjects, and attitudes toward orthodontic treatment. RESULTS: Gender, treatment status, and personality traits did not affect subjects' average attitude toward orthodontic treatment, whereas gender was the only variable that affected subjects' average pain perception (P < .01). The average attitude score in subjects who experienced pain during orthodontic treatment was 5.06 +/- 1.43, compared to 4.32 +/- 1.35 for subjects who did not experience pain (P < .001). The average pain perception scores in treated subjects with previous knowledge of orthodontic treatment was 5.29 +/- 1.94, compared to 6.07 +/- 1.95 in subjects who did not have previous knowledge of orthodontic treatment (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Personality traits did not affect attitude toward orthodontic treatment and pain perception/experience during orthodontic treatment. A more positive attitude was found in patients who experienced less pain during orthodontic treatment.