Use of the sociodental approach in estimating orthodontic treatment needs in adolescent patients.

Purpose: The sociodental model integrates clinical assessment, perceived impacts of malocclusion on quality of life, and behavioural propensity when prioritising orthodontic treatment. This study compares the effect of using different instruments to measure impact-related need on the assessment of orthodontic treatment need based on the sociodental framework.

Materials And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 206 Malaysian adolescents (age: 11-18 years) were screened in orthodontic clinics to identify those with normative need, oral impacts due to malocclusion, and having high and medium-to-high behavioural propensities. The Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need classified normative need. The Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics (PIDA) questionnaire and the Condition-Specific Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (CS-OIDP) index measured oral impacts. Subjects' behavioural propensities for successful treatment outcome were based on the Basic Periodontal Examination and International Caries Detection and Assessment System. Data were analysed using the McNemar test.

Results: The response rate was 99.0%. Estimates of normative need (89.7%) were significantly reduced under the sociodental model by 65.7% (p < 0.0001) when impact-related need was measured using PIDA, and by 41.7% (p < 0.0001) when measured using CS-OIDP. The difference between the results of the two instruments in proportions of identified need for orthodontic treatment was 24.0% (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: For Malaysian adolescents, estimates of need for orthodontic treatment when assessed with the sociodental approach were substantially lower than normative clinical assessment and depended highly on the tools selected to assess the patient's impact-related need. Health policy makers should understand the implication of adopting one instrument or the other when estimating orthodontic treatment need.