Orthodontic treatment motivation and cooperation: a cross-sectional analysis of adolescent patients' and parents' responses.

INTRODUCTION: Orthodontic patients' cooperation determines their treatment outcomes. Our objectives were to compare orthodontic treatment motivation of child and adolescent patients and their parents at an initial screening appointment with the responses of patients in treatment and their parents. Furthermore, we explored the association between participants' levels of treatment motivation and treatment cooperation.

METHODS: Data were collected from 227 child and adolescent patients (50.2% boys, 49.8% girls; average age, 13 years; age range, 7.11-16.11 years) and their parents. Of the respondents, 144 (63.4%) were in orthodontic treatment (71 boys, 73 girls), and 83 (36.6%) (43 boys, 40 girls) were surveyed at their initial orthodontic screening appointment.

RESULTS: Parents reported greater motivation for their children to have orthodontic treatment than did the children. This was especially true among patients who were already in treatment. The higher the patients' treatment motivation, the more they reported that they cooperated with their orthodontists' treatment recommendations. However, the parents' motivation for their child to have orthodontic treatment was not significantly correlated with their children's treatment cooperation.

CONCLUSIONS: Although parents reported greater motivation levels than their children, the patients' levels of motivation to receive orthodontic treatment were found to determine their reported cooperation with their orthodontists' treatment recommendations.