Assessing the costs of activator treatments in general practice.

From a register of patients with malocclusion, 1688 patients were selected, of which 208 (12.3 per cent) had received activator treatment in general practice. Fifteen patients having moved from the area, the remaining 193 patients were selected for the study. From the patients' records, activator treatment time, and the costs of activator and additional orthodontic treatment were estimated. The results of activator treatment were graded according to a three-grade scale. Most activator treatments (83 per cent) had a duration of 2 years or less. Approximately half (48 per cent) of the patients were estimated to have good or excellent results. There was great variation in activator treatment costs and these did not appear to be associated with treatment results. There were also extreme variations between patients in number of visits to the clinic as well as in chairside-time. Additional orthodontic treatments were performed by the GDPs in 55 per cent of the patients and 12 per cent of the patients were referred to orthodontic specialist clinics for treatment.