Abstract
Aim: To assess the degree of stress in patients before seeking orthodontic treatment and after three months of active orthodontic treatment.
Methods : This quasi study was carried out on ninety two patients seeking orthodontic treatment at a dental college by comparing different stress parameters using non probability sampling technique. Stress level was assessed at baseline (T0) and after 3 months (T1) using "The Modified Counseling Team International Stress Indicators Questionnaire". The questionnaore compromised of five indicators i.e., physical, behavioral, sleep, emotinal and personal habits. With each indicator having different questions but same point scale ranging from very low to dnager. It was use on 92 patients of orthodontic department from October 2018 to January 2019. The data was statistically analyzed through SPSS. Standard deviations and means of continuous variables were calculated for each group as descriptive statistics.
Results: Significant correlations were found among the variables from T0 to T1 except the sleep indicator variable. There was a reduction in all stress indicators such as physical, behavioral, emotional and personal habits except the sleep stress indicator (p<0.05) through the study.
Conclusions: Over all stress reduction was seen with time. Substantial redcution in physical, behavioral, emotional and personal habit stress was seen. Sleep stress level showed no signifcant variance before and after treartment. However femlaes showed reduced stress level as compared to males.