Method: Ethical approval was obtained. The study was carried out within two hospital orthodontic departments in the Southwest of England. Focus group meetings were held with patients between 11 to 18 years of age at different stages of treatment with varying degree of hypodontia. A semi structured approach was followed using a topic guide to structure the conversation. Thematic analysis of the transcripts from focus group meetings was carried out and themes were triangulated between three researchers.
Result: Five focus group meetings were held over a six-month period. A total of 22 subjects, 18 females and 4 males, participated in the meetings. The average number of participants per focus group was four and the average age of participants was 12 years 6 months. Four main themes were identified with respect to the impact of hypodontia. These were: issues around treatment, effect on daily activities such as smiling and eating, thoughts on appearance and reaction of other people which included friends and family. Participants reported bullying and name calling due to the appearance of their teeth. The majority of participants felt their treatment was more complex than the treatment their peers were having. There were also concerns about artificial tooth replacement.
Conclusion: This study has highlighted some of the issues of importance for patients with hypodontia. The focus group discussions revealed some new themes that as clinicians we may not have perceived as being important to patients. This information can be used as the basis of a patient reported outcome measure to assess whether treatment for hypodontia addresses the issues of importance for this group of patients.