Satisfaction with Duration of Orthodontic Treatment, Knowledge and Perception of Accelerated Orthodontics by Nigerian Dental Practitioners: A Questionnaire Study

Background: The duration of orthodontic treatment with its attendant complications has been a subject of concern in the specialty of orthodontics, necessitating the need to quicken the rate of orthodontic tooth movement. Despite the growing acceptance of accelerated orthodontics, there is paucity of related information from Nigeria.

Aim: To assess the satisfaction of Nigerian dental practitioners with the duration of orthodontic treatment and their knowledge and perception of accelerated orthodontics.

Materials and Methods: Both electronic and physical survey was conducted among Nigerian dental practitioners between January and June 2023 involving both those in Government employment and private practice. The questionnaire contained questions on satisfaction with duration of orthodontic treatment, knowledge and perception of accelerated orthodontics. The data was analysed using the IBM SPSS version 25. In addition to the descriptive statistics, the Chi-square statistics was used to test the hypotheses with the significance level set at P < .05.

Results: The response rate was 50%. The participants gave significant differences in their levels of satisfaction with the duration of orthodontic treatment but only 42.4% of them were satisfied. Some knowledge-deficit of accelerated orthodontics was observed among the participants with significantly correct responses in only four out the seven methods assessed (P < .05), while their positive perception of accelerated orthodontics was generally significant (P < .05).

Conclusion: The participants were not significantly satisfied with the duration of orthodontic treatment; had knowledge-deficit of the methods of accelerated orthodontics but significant positive perception.