Orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances in the General Dental Service in Scotland

The records of 128 subjects treated by orthodontic specialists with fixed appliances in the General Dental Service in Scotland were randomly selected from the Scottish Dental Practice Board for analysis. The results of the study revealed that: (1) Mean post-treatment Peer Assessment Rating was 7.8 +/- 4.6 PAR points. (2) Mean reduction in PAR score was 14.9 +/- 10.6 PAR points. (3) Mean percentage reduction in PAR was 59 per cent. (4) Twenty-eight per cent of the cases were 'greatly improved', 15 per cent of the cases were made 'worse or no different'. (5) Median duration of treatment was 15 months, with a range of 2-41 months. (6) Multiple regression analysis showed that 82 per cent of the variability of PAR change could be predicted by the pretreatment PAR scores and the number of arches treated. Post-treatment PAR scores and duration of treatment could not be predicted with adequate reliability. It was concluded that although about 75 per cent of the cases were treated to at least acceptable alignment and occlusion, the modest average percentage reduction in PAR score could be explained by the low average initial PAR score and the borderline need for treatment in many cases.