Increasing the Value of Orthodontic Research Through the Use of Dental Patient-Reported Outcomes.

Ten years ago, Chalmers and Glasziou pointed out in the Lancet that 85% of all biomedical research was being avoidably wasted because of imbalanced research question/outcome selection, as well as poor study design, execution, and reporting. According to findings of recent "research on research" studies, a high level of such kind of avoidable waste should also exist in orthodontic research. This warrants efforts to improve each stage of the research production and reporting process. Nowadays, patients' psychosocial function is considered a core element of oral health. Also, their treatment needs and preferences have formed a main component of evidence-based dentistry. Therefore, to achieve shared decision-making, orthodontists need to have an adequate understanding of each patient's values and perceptions. In this context, orthodontic research should be patient-centered so that the knowledge and perception gaps between clinicians and patients can be reduced, and research evidence that is suitable for patients to understand can be provided. In addition, patient-centered outcomes that can reflect patients' perceptions and psychosocial status should be widely used. However, recent scoping reviews have shown that during the past decade, patient-centered outcomes including those regarding adverse effects, health service resource utilization, and quality of life have remained under-represented in orthodontic trials. Thus, the use of dental patient-reported outcomes and dental patient-reported outcome measures should be promoted to facilitate the provision of a patient-centered evidence base, reduce the avoidable waste related to research question/outcome selection, and thereby increase the value of orthodontic research.