The Psychological Status and Patient Self-Esteem During Orthodontic Treatment

Alexandrina Muntean¹, Dana Gabriela Festila^2*, Mircea Ghergie², Bogdan Dragomir³, Adriana Bulboaca⁴ & Magdalena Enache⁵

¹Pediatric Dentistry, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
²Orthodontics and Dento-facial Orthopedics, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
³Orthodontics and Dento-facial Orthopedics, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
⁴Department of Pathophysiology, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
⁵Orthodontics, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Dana Gabriela Festila, Orthodontics and Dento-facial Orthopedics, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Keywords: Self-esteem; Quality of Life; Orthodontic Treatment

Abstract

In the last decades, the awareness of individuals for oral health, shape and position of the teeth alongside the facial appearance and smile has increased enormously and this can affect their mental health status and well-being. Orthodontic treatment has a significant psycho-social impact on patients that suffer from malocclusions. Despite the widespread expectation that orthodontic treatment improves psychological well-being, there is little objective evidence to support this. The aim of the study was to determine the psychological impact of orthodontic treatment in patients by evaluating their perception and self-esteem before and after the treatment. A number of 100 patients, 44 males and 56 females, were addressed with a closed answer questionnaire of nine simple questions that was distributed in dental clinics and social media platforms, in paper and electronic forms; one question was left as an open answered question to give a better insight on how the orthodontic treatment has affected the participant’s quality of life. The participants in the study were eighteen years of age or older to be able to mentally assess and discuss the psychological process of their treatment. The answers were rated as follows: “strongly agree”, “agree”, “neither agree or disagree”, “disagree” and “strongly disagree”. Statistical analyse was performed in order to find any significant differences between male and female patients’ self-esteem and self-worth before and after receiving orthodontic treatment. All the answers were included in the fourth category, “agree”.

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