Practice and Attitude towards Orthodontic Services by Pedodontists andGeneral Practitioners

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the provision of orthodontic skills among general and pediatric dentists. Methods: The study included 344 subjects, who were given a questionnaire that included information like experience of practice, type of orthodontic appliances used, frequency of orthodontic patients treated yearly, etc. Mean scores of all the questions were calculated using student’s t test and one-way ANOVA test at p value <0.05. Results: In general, percentage of participants practicing orthodontics was 22.1%. It was observed that more number of pedodontists were involved in orthodontic treatment than general dentists. Removable appliances were frequently used for patients. The prevalence of practicing orthodontic treatment was mostly observed in more experienced practitioners. Conclusion: The frequency of providing orthodontic treatment was significantly higher amongst pediatric dentists. However, orthodontic courses should be made available for the dental practitioners for further excellence.