I get a lot of patients asking about their IOTN, so I thought I should explain it a bit and why it’s important in Ireland.

It stands for Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need. It was developed in the late 80s in the UK, based on a Swedish model from the early 70s with the intention of having an objective comparison of orthodontic situations to decide what would be a reasonable use of public healthcare to provide dental treatment to correct the problem.

The most commonly part of the Index is known as the Dental Health Component (DHC).

There’s a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 …

Dentistry in general, and orthodontics and the various specialties in particular, can be an isolating sort of profession. You spend most of your time and energy working and thinking in a zone within the reach of your relaxed arms, in a location about the size of a small spare bedroom. …

Had a young patient in for the first time last week, accompanied by her mum. They both knew what needed fixed - a top tooth biting inside the lower teeth instead of outside them: a crossbite.

I went through my usual orthodontic assessment for a new patient, measuring this and that, but I also asked “would your teeth stop you smiling for a photo?”

“Yes.”

I could see her mum’s face change tone, and she said “you never said that, you never told me you didn’t smile.”

At the end of the appointment, after she’d left the room her mum said the same thing to …