The effects of social class on the uptake of orthodontic treatment.

The relationship between social class and uptake of orthodontic treatment was investigated in a longitudinal cohort study of 1018 children living in South Glamorgan, Wales. Previous studies have shown that working class people make less use of dental services and receive inferior dental care than middle class people. The present investigation examined the role of one factor which appears likely to contribute to this effect: namely, the uptake of orthodontic treatment by families from different social classes. If a significant association were shown then findings relating to the effectiveness of orthodontic treatment might be confounded by this social class factor.