Attitudes to malocclusion amongst the parents of 10-12 year old children in Glasgow

Parental perceptions and attitudes on orthodontic care

The objective of this paper is to determine whether an association existed between parents' attitudes to orthodontic issues affecting themselves and their attitudes to possible orthodontic treatment for their child. It consisted of an analytical survey using a self-administered questionnaire, taken in South East England of six-hundred parents of children aged 9 years. The questionnaires were delivered to the parent with the help of their child's school. Four-hundred-and-thirty-seven questionnaires were returned (73 per cent). Significant associations were found between desire by the parents for orthodontic treatment for themselves and perception of need in their child, parental satisfaction with own dental appearance and perception of need in their child, a parental history of orthodontic treatment and a determination to insist on their child's co-operation with orthodontic treatment. Logistic regression models show the odds of parents who desire orthodontic treatment themselves, perceiving need in their children are three times greater than for other parents. 1. There is some evidence that parents who desire orthodontic treatment for themselves, or who are former orthodontic patients are more likely to approve of orthodontic care in principle and to perceive a need for it in their child. 2. Further research is required to establish to what extent genetic factors are involved.

An investigation into some of the factors influencing the desire for orthodontic treatment

A sample of 207 patients and their respective parents were surveyed to assess the influence various occlusal anomalies and other factors had had in stimulating a desire for orthodontic treatment. From the results obtained it is thought that more attention should be given to the particular occlusal and aesthetic deviations which are causing concern to the patient: assumptions based purely upon the presenting occlusal condition should be avoided. It was shown that for the majority of patients the provision of orthodontic care was dictated largely by aesthetics but that the general dental practitioner exerted an appreciable influence on patient acceptance of treatment.

Attitudes to orthodontic treatment

A survey of the attitudes of patients and parents to active orthodontic treatment was undertaken at two centres. Questionnaires were distributed which enquired about pre-treatment appearance, reactions to the proposed treatment, experiences during treatment, perceived benefits of treatment, and values placed upon treatment. The results indicated that both patients and parents were satisfied with the treatment received, and pain from the appliance and its appearance were the main discouraging features.

Children's perceptions of their own malocclusions

Recognition by a parent or child of an occlusal abnormality is one of the many factors which may influence a desire for orthodontic treatment. Non-orthodontists may not estimate the severity of malocclusion reliably and may use different criteria from orthodontists for the process. The present study therefore sought to examine the reliability of parents' and children's perceptions of the children's own malocclusions with rating scales under two anchoring conditions and to test the discrepancy between their estimates and those of a panel of orthodontists. The children's and parents' assessments had limited test-retest reliability but instead of making guesses about the severity of their malocclusions they consistently gave low estimates. These effects were not influenced by the additional anchoring stimuli.