Effectiveness of a personalised referral letter following orthodontic screening

No data exist on the usefulness of orthodontic screening in guiding those children who need orthodontic treatment towards professional advice. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a personalised referral letter following an orthodontic screening programme employing an objective measure of treatment need, the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Out of a total sample of 924 children aged 11-12 yr, 201 were in need of orthodontic treatment and no orthodontic treatment was planned. From this subsample test and control groups matched for sex, socio-economic background, dental disease and aesthetic impairment were created. Following screening, the parents of the test group only were sent a specific orthodontic referral letter. The dental practitioners of the children in the test and control groups were contacted during a follow-up investigation carried out 8 months later, this revealed that significantly more children entered orthodontic treatment pathways from the test group. This study demonstrated that a screening programme, using IOTN as a screening test, and a referral procedure which provided parents with specific information were successful in guiding over one third of children with a need for orthodontic treatment towards orthodontic advice.