Perceived treatment need in patients with different facial profiles

Background: Understanding each patient's perception about his/her malocclsuion is important for developing an optimum treatment plan. The objective of this study was to determine the perceived treatment need (PTN); among patients with convex, straight, or concave profiles.

Materials and methods: A total of 153 orthodontic patients were categorized into three groups (n = 51) based on their facial contour angle (FCA): convex, FCA >13°; straight, FCA 5°-13°; or concave, FCA <5°. The patients were given questionnaires composed of altered FCAs of one male and one female photograph and asked to rate the PTN using a 100-point visual analog scale labeled from 0 as no need to 100 as absolute need for orthodontic treatment.

Results: There was no significant difference in the PTN score for each image between the male and female participants. For the male and female images, an extremely concave profile received the highest score, whereas a normal or slightly convex profile obtained the lowest score. There was no significant difference between groups for the male images, whereas the extremely concave profile female images received a significantly higher score in the concave group compared with the straight group.

Conclusions: The PTN in patients with different facial types was similar. They tend be dissatisfied with their appearance. Male and female patients shared the same PTN.