Knowledge of orthodontic treatment among various dental specialties: a systematic review

Abstract

Orthodontics is a subspecialty in dentistry that has seen significant advances in the past few years. Patientscwho require orthodontic treatment could have a significant benefit from their treatment in addition to ancimproved quality of life. Accordingly, the knowledge of non-orthodontic dental specialists about this fieldccould help in the early referral of patients to receive proper treatment. This review aimed to assess the knowledge of non-orthodontic specialists toward orthodontic treatment over the past 10 years. The literature was searched through Embase, Medline, Ovid, and PubMed databases from 2010 to October 2020. The search terms included were a combination of knowledge or awareness, orthodontic treatment or management, medical, general, or dental specialists. After this, articles were chosen to include only original studies examining the knowledge and awareness of medical and general dental specialists toward orthodontic treatment. Selected trials mentioned the professional status of the included medical specialists under investigation. After the exclusion of review studies and including only original investigations, 12 articles appeared. Eight articles were defined as eligible, covering a total of 1,397 non-orthodontic specialists from different countries. All eight studies had a cross-sectional questionnaire design. The level of the specialists included varied from students to dental experts. General dentists were included in six studies, undergraduate dental students were included in two studies, dental surgeons were included in one study, and pediatric dentists were included in another study. Knowledge and awareness of non-orthodontics specialists are variable among studies. However, further improvements are required through educational programs.