Analysis of Market Demand for preventing malocclusion in preschool children: A case study of Myobrace appliances

Abstract

Orthodontics-related products and services have become important medical appliances in plastic surgery and dental clinics in the last years; traditional dental clinics mainly provide treatments for diseases or repairs. Different than the orthodontics appliances, which the main purpose is to improve the appearance of teeth, and in certain situations it can also improve chewing and speak functions, helping to protect teeth from damage or prevent dental caries. In order to achieve orthodontics skills, dentists will use a series of medical dental equipment, such as headgear, facial arch, and braces. Because orthodontics appliances are different from general functional dental treatments, especially for preschool children and adolescents, the expectations and satisfaction of the parents themselves are more than the satisfaction of the patient’s themselves. Early orthodontics is a neglected project, the main reason is that the national policy focuses on functional treatment (such as dentures for the elderly) or dental caries treatment, and orthodontics appliances are ignored in many national health questionnaires. The prevention of dental diseases are not paid attention by dentists because most of the  dentists are focused on treating the patient’s appearance or defects caused by malocclusion rather than preventing dental malocclusion. By taking effective measures, preschool children can be prevented of malocclusion and bad oral habits. Many reports indicated that the use of orthodontic braces are simple and effective to prevent malocclusion, but it needs to be implemented and adjusted wisely, and prevent young children from malocclusion through health education, consultation and parents education. The purpose of this study is to evaluate parent’s awareness of orthodontic methods, and analyze the market acceptance of Myobrace appliances and the key factors of consumer’s choice through questionnaire analysis. The subjects of the study were parents of young children under 6 years old who had used Myobrace appliances for more than six months at a dental clinic in Taichung City, Taiwan. A total of 60 questionnaires were collected in this study, the average age of the respondents were 35.55 years old, and 80% of them were women; then the users (young children) had a similar male to female ratio, the vast majority of respondents agreed that incorrect dentition would affect facial appearance and oral hygiene; in terms of motivation, it indicated that most of them are from interviews made on the clinic (40%), and from an online survey (28.33%). In terms of cognition of orthodontic appliances, more than half of the interviewees did not know the indications for appliance, principles and differences of the appliance, most of them only knew how to use it. In terms of product satisfaction, only 28.33% were satisfied with the orthodontics appliance. The reason to use these products came from the recommendation of relatives, friends and social media, while the dissatisfied respondents mostly came from clinic interviews or health education centers. The ones who had no opinion about this were 55%. According to the survey results, most of the users of preventive orthodontic products came from interviews made on clinics and internet surveys, however, it is important to note that most parents do not understand the indications or principles of the products, so they may let users’ parents with a high expectation for the benefits of the product, also, in the user satisfaction survey, it can be noted that non-clinic-related use motives are highly satisfied. The main reason is that preventive treatment is not significantly different from correction surgeries. Although most users’ parents have a high awareness, the knowledge of the product is low, which is also the reason for the low satisfaction with the use of preventive aligners. Therefore, this study suggests that the marketing of preventive products should pay more attention to online information to strengthen consumer’s willingness to use it actively. On the other hand, health education or clinic interviews should strengthen user’s awareness of product indications, contraindications, principles, and benefits, Instead of letting users have high expectations for the appliances, resulting in low satisfaction with the preventive appliances and affecting their product promotion.