An investigation of the opinions and preferences of orthodontists in Turkey regarding the use of clear aligners in orthodontic treatment: Original article

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate orthodontists’ perspectives on clear aligner treatment in Turkey. Methods: A novel web-based survey consisting of 14 questions was developed and sent to 2027 members of the Turkish Orthodontic Society via e-mail to evaluate the reasons for why or why not they prefer clear aligners, their opinions about different brands in the market and their perspective on the future of this treatment modality. The association between demographic data and multiple choice questions was examined using Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. The association between Likert-type questions and practice characteristics was analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Turkey’s post hoc tests. Results: 62.7% of the 218 respondents currently treat their patients using clear aligners and 76.7% of them prefer Invisalign (Align Technology, California, USA), a clear aligner brand. The main reasons given by orthodontists to use clear aligners were ‘not to lag behind in technology’ and ‘to have prestige in the community’. The majority of participants (83.8%) treat fewer patients with clear aligners than with fixed appliances. 70% of the surveyed orthodontists do not believe that treatment with clear aligners will completely replace treatments with fixed appliances in the near future. 28.6% of the participants stated that they do not intend to use clear aligner treatment in at least the next 1-2 years due to ‘low financial income’ and ‘complexity of clear aligner treatments. Conclusion: The majority of the surveyed orthodontists currently use clear aligners in their practice, not because they believe clear aligners are more effective or more comfortable than braces or because they are more profitable, but rather to have prestige in the community and not to lag behind in technology. Therefore, it seems that fixed appliance treatment will maintain its place in orthodontic practice as an option for the near future.