Factors associated with long-term patient satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE

To identify factors associated with patient satisfaction at least 5 years after orthodontic treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 209 orthodontic patients were included in the study. All subjects were treated with upper and lower fixed orthodontic appliances. Dental casts (n = 627) were examined using the Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) Index pretreatment (T1), at the end of treatment (T2) and at a long-term follow-up (mean, 8.5 years; T3). At T3, a Dental Impact on Daily Living questionnaire was used to assess the long-term effects of orthodontic treatment on daily living and satisfaction with the dentition. Multiple regression analyses were used to quantify associations between patient satisfaction and changes produced by the orthodontic treatment (PAR T2-T1), posttreatment stability (PAR T3), age at the start of treatment (T1), treatment duration (T2-T1), gender, and extraction.

RESULTS

Orthodontic treatment produced a significant improvement of 94.2% in the PAR Index (T2-T1), but this change was not associated with the level of satisfaction when the patient was questioned at least 5 years after treatment. Regression analysis showed that satisfaction was significantly associated only with the long-term posttreatment PAR index (r(2) = 0.125, P < .0001). No significant association was observed with the severity of malocclusion at the beginning (PAR-T1) or end of the orthodontic treatment (PAR-T2), age at T1, the amount of time taken during orthodontic treatment, gender, or extraction.

CONCLUSIONS

Over the long term, patient satisfaction is slightly associated with the stability of the orthodontic treatment regardless of the initial occlusal condition or the final result of the orthodontic treatment.