What do adolescents think of braces?
Unley Orthodontics
Brazilian adolescents’ perception of the orthodontic appliance: A qualitative study Barbosa de Almeida A, Leite I, Alves da Silva G AJODO April 2019
Background
Straightening teeth with braces changes the way teenagers feel about their smile and can improve their quality of life through their high school years. We see happiness with all of our teen patients, the day we take the braces off, they cannot stop smiling. Nowadays, walking through Unley Shopping Centre, most teenagers have braces on. It is a normal part of being an adolescent. But what do adolescents think about braces? What are the changes that they see in their smile and what are their concerns with braces? A paper from the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics provides some information on the topic.
Research question
What is the perception of Brazilian adolescents regarding braces and the orthodontic treatment process? What did they do? The Brazilian research group performed a prospective study with teens aged 12-15yrs enrolled in both public and private schools. 142 adolescents (91 female and 51 male) from 8 schools (4 private and 4 public) were enrolled in the study.
Firstly, they used word association where the adolescents were invited to respond with 3 words when asked “What comes to your mind when you think of braces?” and “What comes to your mind when you imagine a friend of yours wearing braces?”
The most common words used from these teens were then used to develop related questions for small focus groups with students from the same schools. The focus groups were made up of 71 students (23 male and 48 female), equally divided between public and private schools.
Results of the study
The most common positive words for braces were “cool,” “beautiful,” and “colour” whereas the most common negative words were “expensive”, “pain” and “difficult to eat”.
The aesthetic benefit of orthodontic treatment was the most frequent category in all focus groups, followed by the colour of the braces and the social impact. The functional benefit of braces was low on the list of benefits.
The pain associated with orthodontic treatment was the most relevant negative aspect. Most of the time, the pain was reported as a momentary setback that was easily overcome. Difficulty eating, cost and length of treatment were also mentioned as negative outcomes of orthodontic treatment.
Summary
The conclusion of the study was that “orthodontic treatment has a positive aesthetic impact for Brazilian adolescents, with improvement of their self-image.” I thought that this study was a novel method for gaining understanding of the population which are most commonly in orthodontic care. It gives an insight into what are the most important factors for adolescents are when they are deciding to have braces. It is interesting to note that this population care more about the aesthetics of braces including the colours than the overall function or final bite.
As an orthodontist, my goals are to achieve a smile that every patient is happy with, but I also am concerned with developing the best bite. The occlusion, or the way the teeth bite together, is important for aesthetics of a smile, chewing and biting as well as stability of the teeth after treatment. Often when I am seeing teens, I am really focused on getting the bite right, but after reading this article, I’ll also make certain we have lots of different colours to choose from and provide adequate information about pain relief and tips on how to make the right food choices whilst going through braces treatment.
Dr Jensen