Title

Perception and satisfaction in patients using clear aligners versus fixed orthodontic appliances
 

Authors

Prashant Patil^1,*, Girish Polavaram Vasudeva Setty², Bareera Shafiuddin³, Altaf Hussain⁴, Sunanda Paul⁵, Riyas Karim⁶ & Md. Kafeel Ahmed⁷

Affiliation

¹Department of Orthodontics, Al Badar Dental College and Hospital, Gulbarga, Karnataka, India; ²Neuromuscular Orthodontist, Private Practice, Smile Architect Dental, Bangalore, Karnataka, India; ³Orthodontist Consultant, Doha, Qatar; ⁴Specialist Orthodontist, Qimat Altieb Medical Complex, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; ⁵Department of Orthodontics Dentofacial and Orthopaedics, Government Dental College and Hospital, Silchar, Assam, India; ⁶Department of Periodontics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Kothamangalam, Kochi, Kerala, India; ⁷Department of Periodontology and Implantology, MNR Dental College and Hospital, Sangareddy, Hyderabad, Telangana, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Prashant Patil - E-mail: drprashant.ap@gmail.com
Girish Polavaram Vasudeva Setty - E-mail: drgirishpv@gmail.com
Bareera Shafiuddin - E-mail: drbareera88@gmail.com
Altaf Hussain - E-mail: draltafhussain24@gmail.com
Sunanda Paul - E-mail: sunandapaul39@gmail.com
Riyas Karim - E-mail: ryu4urs@gmail.com
Md. Kafeel Ahmed - E-mail: drkafeelsohar@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received February 1, 2026; Revised February 28, 2026; Accepted February 28, 2026, Published February 28, 2026

Abstract

Patient satisfaction drives orthodontic treatment success, yet clear aligners (CA) versus fixed appliances (FA) comparisons remains inconclusive. This prospective cohort study assessed psychosocial impact, satisfaction and OHRQoL in 120 patients over 12 months using validated questionnaires at multiple timepoints. CA users reported significantly higher aesthetic satisfaction throughout (p<0.001), with 78.3% rating aesthetics excellent vs 41.7% in FA at 12 months. Comfort scores strongly favored CA (p<0.001), while oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) was comparable at endpoint (p=0.342) despite similar treatment durations. Clear aligners advance orthodontic practice as an aesthetically superior, comfortable alternative that matches fixed appliance functional outcomes.

Keywords

clear aligners; fixed orthodontic appliances; patient satisfaction; aesthetic perception; oral health-related quality of life; adult orthodontics

Citation

Patil et al. Bioinformation 22(2): 770-775 (2026)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.