Does Socioeconomic Class and Educational Level of Orthodontic Patients have any Impact on their Satisfaction with Treatment duration, Perception and Attitude Towards Accelerated Orthodontics?

Background: There is growing attention globally on the satisfaction of orthodontic patients about the duration of orthodontic treatment, and the importance of accelerated orthodontics but more information is needed concerning factors that could influence the patients.

Aim: To investigate possible influence of socioeconomic factors on their satisfaction with duration of orthodontic treatment, as well as their perception and attitude towards accelerated orthodontics.

Materials and Methods: A 15-month clinic-based survey of all orthodontic patients at a Nigerian Teaching Hospital was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire that sought information on their satisfaction with the duration of conventional orthodontic treatment and their perception and attitude towards accelerated orthodontics. Using SPSS IBM Version 25, the data was analyzed and both descriptive, student’s t-test and ANOVA statistics were used to test the hypotheses. The significance level was set at P < .05.

Results: Social class did not show any significant associations with satisfaction with duration of orthodontic treatment and most of the variables for perception and attitudes to accelerated orthodontics (P >.05), except for only two. Generally, patients’ educational level did not give any significant associations with either satisfaction with duration of orthodontic treatment or their perception and attitudes towards accelerated orthodontics (P>.05).

Conclusion and Recommendation: Socioeconomic status of the patients neither significantly influenced their satisfaction with the duration of orthodontic treatment nor their perception and attitudes towards accelerated orthodontics. Further similar research would be worthwhile.