Factors influencing the duration of orthodontic treatment

Abstract

When opting for an orthodontic treatment, several factors must be considered in order to achieve excellent results. One of the most important factor, for the practitioner and also for the patient, is the duration of the treatment. Aim. In this paper, the aim is to highlight representative factors that influence the duration of orthodontic treatment. Material and method. We performed a retrospective study on 154 clinical cases within the Department of Orthodontics and Dento-facial Orthopedy at the Faculty of Dentistry from Cluj-Napoca and Tg. Mures. The duration of treatment of these patients was calculated excluding the containment stage, focusing only on the factors themselves. Results. The longest therapy time resulted in patients aged 9-12 years (an average of 34.5 months), in those having a class II subdivision 1 malocclusion (an average of 30.6 months), and for extractional treatments (27 months, comparing with 23 months in non-extractional treatments). Conclusion. The longest duration is found in the extractional treatment of Angle class II subdivision 1 patients. On the other hand, the use of temporary anchorage devices (TAD) reduces the duration of the orthodontic treatment.

Keywords

• duration of treatment
• age
• malocclusion
• extractions