Outcome of a scheme for specialist orthodontic care

With the purpose of examining the outcome of specialist orthodontic care on a population level (Halland, Sweden), a random sample of previously treate d 19-year-olds (n=118) was clinically examined and interviewed. Thirty-thre e per cent of the cohort (n=1554) had received treatment, and mean treatmen t time was 19 months requiring 20 visits. Changes in occlusion were assesse d using the PAR Index applied to dental study casts representing the pre- a nd post-treatment and follow-up (19 years) condition. The subjects' respons es to questions addressing their past and present attitudes to dental appea rance and orthodontic treatment were combined to represent "orthodontic con cern", at the pre-treatment stage and at 19 years of age. A mean reduction in weighted PAR scores of 83% was observed from pre-treatm ent to post-treatment, whereas at follow-up, the net improvement was 69%. A significant shift in attitudes was observed, as 72% of the individuals exp ressed orthodontic concern pre-treatment compared to less than 10% at 19 ye ars. The improvement obtained was similar to other studies on outcome of or thodontic treatment provided by specialist orthodontists. Compared to most PAR-studies providing information about orthodontic services, the present s cheme appeared to be efficient on the assumption that duration of treatment and number of visits are expressions of costs.