The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Adult Patients’ Characteristics and Decision on Orthodontic Appliance

Purpose: There is an overall paucity of data examining the specific details of orthodontic patients' patterns or orthodontic service disruptions possibly influenced by COVID-19 pandemic.Therefore, this study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthodontic clinic disruption regarding the change in adult patients' characteristics and decisions of orthodontic treatment devices.Patients and Methods: A retrospective sample of 311 patients receiving orthodontic treatment from 2018 to 2022 were collected and divided into two groups: before (n = 167) and during (n = 144) the COVID-19 pandemic.Demographics, dental indices, the index of complexity outcome and need (ICON), and the degree of treatment difficulty were analyzed.Results: There were fewer students among patients during the COVID-19 pandemic than before (24.5% versus 35.9%,P = 0.036).Compared with patients before the pandemic, more patients selected ceramic brackets or Invisalign during the pandemic (P = 0.022).There were higher percentage of class I dental malocclusions among patients during than before the COVID-19 pandemic (P = 0.044).Moreover, the ICON score and the score of the degree of treatment difficulty were both significantly lower for patients during than before the COVID-19 pandemic (63.9±14.0versus 58.3±15.3,P=0.001 and 7.4±2.6versus 6.8±2.6,P=0.049, respectively). Conclusion:The COVID-19 pandemic influenced the characteristics and decisions of orthodontic patients.Those who still came to the orthodontic clinic despite the COVID-19 outbreak may have been those with less malocclusion severity and treatment difficulty.Besides, during the time of covid-19 pandemic, more patients chose ceramic bracket and Invisalign as their orthodontic treatment device rather than conventional or self-ligating metal brackets.