Almost one third of the UK are considering or have completed orthodontic treatment.
This is according to a survey carried out by Portman Smile Clinic.
Of those surveyed, 28% have completed or have considered orthodontic/teeth straightening treatment
Other key findings include:
- Females are more likely than males to consider orthodontic treatment and males are more likely to go through orthodontic treatment for the reason ‘to improve my health’
- The main reason to choose orthodontic treatment being to ‘look better/improve appearance’ drops amongst 40 to 48-year-olds. However it increases again in the 50 to 58-year-old age demographic.
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Improve confidence
In addition, around 14% of 40+-year-olds are considering teeth straightening. On top of that, 18 to 29-year-olds are twice as likely to get treatment.
The top three reasons for considering teeth straightening included:
- Correct crooked teeth (52.3%)
- Look better/improve appearance (50.7%)
- Increase confidence (36.3%).
Exam backlog
This comes as the backlog for the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) increases by 35% compared to last year.
Findings show that 1,502 dental practitioners applied for the ORE in April 2022. This number includes 1,271 for part one of the exam and 231 for part two.
To compare, the number of dentists who were waiting to sit the exam last April was 1,112. As a result, this indicates an increase of 35% in the backlog in only 12 months.
Exams available for the rest of 2022 are limited to roughly 700 overseas dentists.
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