PAIN ANTICIPATED & PAIN EXPERIENCED DURING ORTHODONTIC PROCEDURES

Abstract

Orthodontic patients experience pain and discomfort to a varying degree during the course of treatment. Majority of the orthodontic procedures like separator placement, banding, bonding, wire change & even debonding are associated with pain and discomfort that varies from patient to patient. The purpose of this study is to compare the pain anticipated before various orthodontic procedures & pain experienced after different stages of orthodontic treatment. All subjects included in the study were of age ranging from 14 to 25 years. Every subject was explained about the orthodontic procedure that was going to be performed on them in detail and then before any procedure was carried out, they were asked to anticipate level of pain from Visual Analogue Scale. At next appointment, every subject was shown Visual Analogue Scale and was asked about the level of pain they actually experienced. Procedures that were evaluated; 1). Separator placement, 2). Banding on molars, 3). Full Arch bracket bonding with 0.012 Ni-Ti wire placement. Results showed that at the time of start of any new ortho­dontic procedure, the anticipated pain is slightly more than actual pain experienced. Orthodontist should inform the patient about the pain and other common side-effects of treatment, especially before inserting an appliance that can cause discomfort. Providing sufficient information to the patient can not only help in reducing anxiety, but can also indirectly reduce the perceived intensity of pain.