Parents’ Awareness of Early Orthodontic Consultation: A Cross-Sectional Study

Parental Knowledge and Awareness Regarding Early Orthodontic Consultation in Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to assess parental knowledge and awareness of early orthodontic consultation in children.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of schoolchildren who were randomly selected from public schools in the Al Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia, using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected using a prevalidated, pretested study questionnaire distributed to parents through the schoolchildren. The questionnaire focused on the demographic data, knowledge, and awareness of parents regarding their children's need for orthodontic consultation. Descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test were used to analyze the quantitative data collected.

RESULTS

More than 50% of the study participants exhibited a good perception of most of the aspects of early orthodontic consultation in children. However, only 42.8% of study subjects exhibited awareness of space maintainers and their use in a growing child, while only 37.5% knew that the first orthodontic visit should be at seven years of age. The age of the participants as well as their educational level were found to be important demographic factors influencing knowledge and awareness of the need for early orthodontic consultation (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

The present study found that there were knowledge and awareness gaps among Saudi parents regarding early orthodontic consultation, including those on the need for space maintainers and the age of initial orthodontic consultation. There exists a need for a targeted focus on creating awareness amongst younger and lesser-educated parents, which can largely improve the awareness pertaining to early orthodontic treatment initiation in children.

Perceived Orthodontic Needs and Attitudes towards Early Evaluation and Interventions: A Survey-Based Study among Parents of Italian School-Aged Children

(1) Background: Parents' awareness of malocclusion and their attitude towards early evaluation and interventions influence children's orthodontic management. This cross-sectional study investigates factors that affect the perceived orthodontic needs and the attitude towards interceptive orthodontics among a sample of one-thousand eight-hundred and six (1806) parents of children aged between 6 and 11 years. (2) Methods: The investigation was carried out thought a 18-items online questionnaire divided as follows: characteristics of respondents; perceived child's orthodontic needs; attitude toward early orthodontic evaluation and interventions. The associations between responses were assessed with a Chi-square test. (3) Results: Two-thirds of the respondents referred to having consulted an orthodontist for their child, and more than half of them initiated the required orthodontic treatment. In 44% of cases, the orthodontic consultation occurred after the age of 7 years. Parents' higher education and history of orthodontic treatment were associated with a greater awareness of orthodontic needs. Parents' perception of the impact of teeth on their child's personality was significantly associated with the decision to start the orthodontic treatment (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: Although the parents' level of awareness of their child's orthodontic needs was generally satisfactory, the results of the present study pointed out the need for a better education regarding the importance of an early orthodontic assessment.

Parents' Awareness of Malocclusion and Orthodontic Consultation for Their Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Parents' awareness of malocclusion and the appropriate timing to seek orthodontic consultation for their children has a substantial impact on children's orthodontic treatment. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate parents' awareness of malocclusion and orthodontic consultation of their children and the influence of parents' demographics on their awareness level. An electronic survey collected information about participants' demographics and awareness about malocclusion and orthodontic consultation of children. A total of 473 parents living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, participated in the study. The average awareness level among parents was moderate (3.09 ± 1.4). Male gender and unemployment were associated with low orthodontic awareness levels relative to moderate awareness (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 1.8-5.8 and OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.1-3.8, respectively). Former or current orthodontic treatment was associated with high awareness levels (OR = 3.9, 95% CI = 2.4-6.5). There is still a need to raise the awareness of Saudi parents about malocclusion and orthodontic consultations for their children. Orthodontic awareness-raising campaigns should be designed to include fathers and parents with low socioeconomic status. The findings of this study also suggest that orthodontists can enhance their patient's awareness of malocclusion and orthodontic consultation for their children.

YouTube as an information and education source for early orthodontic treatment

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to evaluate the content, reliability, and quality of YouTube videos for early orthodontic treatment.

METHODS

YouTube video searches were carried out using the keyword "early orthodontic treatment," which was determined using Google Trends. After sorting according to relevance, the first 120 videos were observed, and 61 videos were analyzed accordingly. Further, the general characteristics, uploader source, reliability score (RS), global quality scale (GQS), video information quality index, audiovisual quality, viewers' interaction index, viewing rate, and total information content score (TCS) data belonging to these videos were analyzed. Based on their reliability scores, videos were divided into 2 main groups (low and medium/high information content) accordingly.

RESULTS

It was found that 25 (41%) of the videos had medium/high information content, and 36 (59%) had low information content, respectively. Videos with medium/high information content were found to have long video durations, increased comments, and high TCS, GQS, RS, and video information quality index scores (P <0.05). The videos uploaded by doctors had increased comments, long duration, and high TCS, GQS, and RS scores (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The quality of the information provided by YouTube videos on early orthodontic treatment was generally insufficient. In addition, the information quality was high for videos uploaded by doctors.