Girls More Sensitive to Orthodontic Treatment Pain Than Boys

A new study found that adolescent girls undergoing orthodontic treatment have a lower pain tolerance than their male counterparts. The study titled, “Orthodontic Pain: An Interaction Between Age and Sex in Early and Middle Adolescence,” which appeared in The Angle Orthodontist’s November 2013 issue, determined that girls between the ages of 14 and 17 reported experiencing more pain during orthodontic treatment than boys of the same age. The study, which included 280 subjects, is consistent with the current literature, which points to pain response differentiation between boys and girls—most noticeably after puberty. Explanation for these differing levels of pain may be psychosocial, physical, and biophysiologic, or due to fluctuating hormone levels. The authors note that understanding why girls experience high levels of pain is important, so that strategies for pain management and ongoing motivation may be offered to ensure treatment success.

From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. April 2014;12(4):12.