Orthodontic therapists

摘要

In July 2007 the first training course for orthodontic therapists opened at Leeds Dental Institute. This was the culmination of more than 40 years of campaigning by orthodontists. At the end of the 1990s there was evidence that up to 50% of 11-year-old children had a defined need for orthodontic treatment. There were fewer orthodontic specialists in the UK than in the majority of European countries and most orthodontists in specialist practice had a caseload at least double that of their European counterparts. As a result, many patients did not receive the specialist care they required. By the mid-1990s two-thirds of European countries were using orthodontic therapists in the delivery of orthodontic healthcare. In the UK, the use of such personnel was not permitted, with only qualified dentists being able to carry out orthodontic treatment.