When Can Orthodontic Over-Treatment Be Measured? A Pre-Registered Identification Assessment, a Falsified Claim, and a Cross-Sectional Analysis of Untreated Occlusal Need in NHANES III

Background/Objectives: Orthodontic care is widely described as simultaneously over-supplied to those with little clinical need and under-supplied to those with much. Testing the first half of that claim requires a data source in which need is recorded independently of entitlement. We asked whether any such source exists, and, where need can be measured independently, how much of it remains untreated and how that residual is distributed socially.

Methods