The Comparison of Orthodontics Trends in Turkish and Western Literatures

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the reports of orthodontic research published in American Journal of Orthodontics Dentofacial Orthopedics (AJO), European Journal of Orthodontics (EJO), and Turkish Journal of Orthodontics (TJO) between 1991 and 2006 from the perspectives of evidence based medicine and research ethics. A hand-search was performed to identify 3091 papers. The journal and year of publication, research design, subject, discipline, research material, informed consent and ethical approval of clinical trials were recorded. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the distribution of trials. In all journals, 3091 papers were identified of which 822 (%25) were published from 1991 to 1995, 944 (%35) from 1996 to 2000 and 1325 (%40) from 2001 to 2006. In all reports, 1823 (%59) articles were published in the AJO, 959 (%31) in the EJO and 309 (%10) in the TJO. The subjects most frequently assessed were orthodontic treatment evaluations (%18,3), oral biology studies (%16,8), and biomechanics research (%11,8). In all 1444 clinical trials, the reports of randomized controlled clinical trials were 119 (%8,2), uncontrolled clinical trials were 126 (%8,8) and nonrandomized controlled clinical trials were 1199 (%38,8). Only %0,8 (24/3091) reports were systematic reviews and meta-analysis. In all 554 clinical trials involving human subjects, 375 (%67,6) reports did not include a statement about either ethical approval or informed consent. Only 109 (%19,6) reports included statements about both, and only 70 (%12) reports indicated that informed consent had been obtained. In all clinical trials published in the TJO between 1991 and 2006, there were any randomized controlled clinical trials and any research stated that ethical approval had been obtained.