Treatment outcomes in 4 modes of orthodontic practice

This study is a continuation of a previously published report on the outcome of orthodontic treatment provided in offices representing different modes of practice.

The sample consisted of duplicate pretreatment (T1) and posttreatment (T2) dental casts of 348 patients from traditional private orthodontic practices (5 offices, 134 patients), company-owned practices (5 offices, 107 patients), offices associated with practice-management organizations (2 offices, 60 patients), and general dental practices (2 offices, 47 patients). Methods were used to obtain random, representative samples from each office, starting with lists of patients who were treated consecutively with full fixed orthodontic appliances. The dental casts were measured by 2 independent judges who used the unweighted PAR score.

Good interjudge agreement was shown on the initial casts, but the agreement was not as strong on the final casts.

The measurements showed that treatment outcomes were generally satisfactory, although some significant differences between offices and management modes were shown.