Attitudes and Awareness toward Advanced Orthodontic Procedures and Characteristic of Orthodontic Practice in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: : Orthodontics is a specialty and technological innovation, which has a large role in determining its practice. Orthodontists have shown enthusiasm and willingness to incorporate developing technologies into their clinical practices despite limited independent scientific evidence. Objectives: To evaluate the attitudes and awareness among orthodontists toward advancement of Orthodontic procedures in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a cross sectional and descriptive questionnaire based study. A questionnaire composed of 30-items, containing multiple choices and check box was e-mailed to the seventy orthodontists practicing and licensed from different regions of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An orthodontist that did not respond subsequently contacted at least 3 times by email living in the different provinces of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaires were divided into segments: demographics, choosing orthodontic procedures and advances of their orthodontic practice. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 21, Chicago, Illinois. Basic statistics and comparative analyses with chi-square were undertaken. Result: A total of 63 orthodontists (50 males and 13female) completed the survey correctly and among them 35% were Saudi and 65% Non-Saudi. Response rate was 90%. Maximum numbers of orthodontist (35%) were from age group of 31-40years and least (8%) from 25-30 years (Table 1). Eighty-nine percent orthodontists were qualified as doctorate and master and mostly working as specialist and get qualification from Arab countries. Most of the orthodontists were using digital imaging 85%, 2-phase treatment 87% and functional appliance 92% Fig 1.Maximum number of orthodontists having PhD and Master degree using digital imaging and functional appliances where as others was using maximum self-ligating and invisalgin. Conclusion: The subjects are well aware toward advanced Orthodontic procedures such as self-ligating brackets, TADs and Invisalign as a new technique into their practices, and few were averse to using either.