Children’ perception on facial aesthetics and orthodontic treatment

Abstract

Aim and objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the attitude of children towards facial aesthetics and the idea of wearing braces. Material and methods: A 5 items questionnaire was applied in the city of Oradea, Romania and distributed to orthodontic patients, with ages between 8 and 11.9 years. Results: A number of 256 patients remained in the study, after applying the exclusion criteria. Of the total number of patients, 136 were girls and 120 were boys. Regarding the distribution of the patients according to their living environment, 84 patients were coming from a rural environment, and 172 patients were coming from an urban environment. The majority of patients wanted to have the aspect of their teeth corrected (Item1), and were happy that they were wearing an orthodontic appliance (Item 3). However, more than a third were not happy that they were wearing an orthodontic appliance (Item 3). Half of the patients declared that their habits did not change after they started the orthodontic treatment (Item 5). Most patients were disturbed by the aspect of their face with different scores of gravity (Item 2). At the same time, most patients considered that the aspect of their face improved after they started the orthodontic treatment (Item 4). Conclusions: Patients declared that they were affected by the aspect of their teeth, and had a generally positive attitude regarding orthodontic appliances.