Re: response to: Correlation between body mass index and orthodontic treatment outcome, J. von Bremen, J. Wagner and S. Ruf. The Angle Orthodontist 2013;83:371–375

To: Editor, The Angle Orthodontist

Thank you very much for your comments. We would like to answer your questions as far as possible:

1. Of course we are aware that cooperation is dependent on many more factors than body mass index, and gender certainly appears to be one of those factors. We did analyze cooperation in relation to gender in both BMI groups and can confirm that boys (both overweight and normal weight) did not cooperate as well as girls in their corresponding BMI groups. But still, even if we compare boys and girls separately, in both gender groups the patients with a normal BMI cooperated much better than those with an increased BMI.

2. We completely agree that a questionnaire evaluating the psycho-emotional status would be a useful tool in future studies. Within the limits of this pilot study we did not collect such data, but it would certainly be interesting for future examinations!

Once again, thank you for your questions, comments and inspiration!