A decision-making process to undergo orthodontic treatment: a qualitative study

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the patients participating in the research

No	Gender	Age (years)	Marital status	Cause of orthodontic procedure	Educational level	Father/spouse job
1	F	21	Single	Upper teeth protrusion	BSc	Employee
2	M	19	Single	Maladjusted jaws	BSc	Driver
3	M	17	Single	Two teeth overlapped	High school	Teacher
4	M	24	Single	Malaligned teeth	BSc	Employee
5	F	22	Married	Overlapped teeth	Diploma	Business man
6	M	14	Single	My teeth were not aligned	High school	Employee
7	F	15	Single	One of my teeth was tilted	High school	Worker
8	F	14	Single	Rabbit teeth	High School	Employee
9	F	14	Single	Excessive tooth show on smile	High school	Worker
10	M	19	Single	The teeth were on each other	Diploma	Driver
11	M	17	Single	Upper jaw was protruded	Student	Employee
12	F	27	Single	Crowded teeth	Diploma	Worker
13	F	22	Single	My teeth were protruded	Diploma	Employee
14	F	24	Married	Teeth protrusion while smiling	Student	Employee
15	F	17	Single	Malaligned teeth	Diploma	Worker

Table 2 Categories and sub-categories

	General category (9)	Categories (22)
Antecedents	Distorted mental self-image	Sense of having an ugly face
		Problems in facial appearance
		Inappropriate interactions with others
		Isolation
	Hope to look attractive	Need to receive attention
		Giving importance to beauty
	Inappropriate interactions with family and friends	Being outraged
		Reactions to family
Effective factors	Family’s views toward the problem	Attitudes and interactions
		Knowledge and awareness
		Socioeconomic level
	Social conditions	Attitudes of those around and the community
		Culture
	Financial constraints	High cost
		Lack of financial support by the government
	Hope for a better future	Confident and powerful presence in the community
		Self-esteem
Mechanism	Challenges in the family	Uncertainty for the outcomes
		Limited financial power
		Time-consuming treatment
Consequences	Decision making to undergo the treatment	Information acquisition
		Funding

Figure 1 Conceptual model of orthodontic decision making.