Never before in the UK has Orthognathic Surgery been so clearly explained from the patient’s perspective as in the DVD just launched by a group of orthodontic consultants in collaboration with the British Orthodontic Society. The literal meaning of orthognathic surgery is ‘surgery to create straight jaws’ and it involves orthodontics to re-align teeth.
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| Steve Rudge, Alison Murray, James Spencer and Tania Murphy with the DVD |
The inspiration behind the DVD, ‘A Patient Guide to Orthognathic Surgery’ is Tania Murphy, who in addition to being an orthodontic consultant in Yorkshire, is a former patient and now one of the interviewees on the DVD. Three years ago, she gave a presentation at the British Orthodontic Conference based on the diary she kept throughout her treatment. The talk and the paper subsequently published in the Journal of Orthodontics was called "The Diary of an Orthognathic Patient aged 30¾”.
At the time of the treatment she was working as a Specialist Registrar at Charles Clifford Dental Hospital and she was treated at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. She soon realised that after surgery patients who say “I’m fine” may feel bruised and confused and need reassurance, as she did. Before she had the surgery, she would tell her own patients in the post-operative period “You look great”, now her emphasis is on the future and telling patients they will look fantastic when they have made a full recovery.
Dr Murphy also produced helpful guidance to prepare patients for what they would need in the days and weeks after treatment; top of the list is a blender to make food soft and easy to swallow. Her colleagues were so inspired by what she had learned from her experience and the need to improve patient information, they decided a DVD should be made. The result is a highly polished communication tool which incorporates interviews with patients as well as animations to explain the treatment.
The content has been broken down into sections so patients can easily view the bit which applies to them at the most relevant time. The first section is an overview of the whole procedure and then the DVD works through the orthodontic treatment and the surgical aspects in eight sections before finishing with patient interviews.
The script of the DVD was produced and edited by the following Orthodontic Consultants: Alison Murray, Tania’s orthodontist and trainer, James Spencer, the secretary of the BOS Consultant Orthodontists Group, Consultant Orthodontist Stephen Rudge, and Consultant Oral and Maxillo-facial Surgeon, Kanak Patel. It was filmed and produced by the Learning Development and Media Unit at The University of Sheffield.
The production of the DVD is timely. The June issue of the Journal of Orthodontics published an important study into the perspective of patients referred to hospital for orthognathic treatment. The aim of the research was to find out whether patients make informed decisions about their treatment. Many expressed strong emotions about living with their abnormality and with deciding whether to proceed with treatment. The findings revealed that patients looked at orthognathic treatment as a way of:
• Improving the function and bite of their teeth
• Looking “more normal” – this was a strong motivating factor.
• “Blending into the background” – some patients were teased about their appearance.
Among the patients in the study, 71% were originally referred due to bite problems as well as the position of their teeth. Following surgical-orthodontic treatment, 58% of patients said their self-esteem had increased. However, the report also recommended that better information should be provided by the respective orthognathic teams to help certain patients more with their decision-making.
Now, thanks to Tania and her colleagues, there is a DVD is on sale to consultants and surgeons who work together in hospital Maxillo-facial departments, to orthodontic specialists and directly to patients.
