Year : 2019

Volume : Volume 10

Issue : Issue 2s

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Swaroopa Rani Ponnada.
swaroopaponnada@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  General dental practitioners and non-orthodontic specialities play an essential role in the education and motivation of patients about the principles and practice of orthodontic treatment. A decent level of awareness about orthodontic principles and techniques amongst other dental practitioners is important as they can impact the patient turnover rate for orthodontic treatment and its success. Hence the present survey is undertaken. Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge and awareness in the field of Orthodontics among practitioners from other disciplines of Dentistry and to evaluate the understanding and ability to correlate concepts in Orthodontics and other disciplines of Dentistry.  Materials and methods: A survey was conducted (from October 2018 - December 2018) among general dentists and non-orthodontic specialists about their opinion regarding orthodontic treatment. A questionnaire containing 20 questions was sent out via e-mail to the members registered under IDA. The total number of responses recorded was 862. The data was collected and analysed.  Results and conclusion: Descriptive statistics were carried out and depicted in the form of pie charts. It was observed that most of the participants were aware of the basic concepts of Orthodontics and it is encouraging to know that majority of the practitioners believe that it is important to involve Orthodontist for the management of patients with orthodontic issues. Conduct of CDE programs to update the general/ other speciality practitioners about Orthodontics might be productive in providing meticulous care to the patients.

Keywords: Survey, Questionnaire, Orthodontic treatment needs.