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STUDY OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE ABOUT PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT AMONG GENERAL DENTAL PRACTITIONERS AND NON-ORTHODONTIC SPECIALTIES

Dr. Ayesha Mehak Saeed, Dr. Sahrish Jabeen, Dr. Nida Ayub, Dr. Ali Raza Jaffri, Dr. Zarwish Akbar

Background; Orthodontic specialty can play an essential role of education and motivation of their patients about the principles and practice of orthodontic treatment; which can be very beneficial to the patient’s lifestyle. It is, therefore, important to identify their level of knowledge and attitude toward orthodontic treatment. This study was planned to study this aspect in the form of comparative analysis in general dental practitioners and other specialties (except orthodontia) in dentistry. Objectives: 1.To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and awareness in the field of Orthodontics among dentists and specialists from other disciplines of Dentistry. 2.To evaluate the knowledge and ability to correlate concepts in Orthodontics and other disciplines of Dentistry. 3.To assess the importance given to Orthodontics by general dental practitioners and non-orthodontic specialists. 4.To suggest and incorporate change in the dental syllabus in colleges to help the students to be more aware of the recent advances in Orthodontics. Methods and statistics; A questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and awareness in the field of Orthodontics amongst general dentists and non-orthodontic specialists. The questionnaire consisted of fifteen (15) questions related to diagnosis and treatment planning in Orthodontics. It was distributed to one hundred (n= 100) general dentists and non-orthodontic specialists selected from various regions of Punjab. Results; After computing the data, we observed that the knowledge level among the study participants was moderately satisfying. Knowledge regarding the duration of the retainers was observed to be inadequate. Conclusion; Improving the awareness amongst the practitioners in this area can help the patients with malocclusion to opt for orthodontic treatment at earlier stages and avoid complications later in the future. The study highlights on the need for more CDE (Continuing Dental Education) programs with active participation of general dentists and non-orthodontic specialists to update them. Further, modifications in the education system at the under graduate level in dental colleges to impart more diagnostic concepts can benefit the students.