Re: Iwasaki LR, et al. Validation of a modified McGill Pain Questionnaire for orthodontic patients. Angle Orthod. 2013;83:906–912

To: Editor, The Angle Orthodontist

The authors of this article are to be congratulated on their efforts to develop a validated measure to assess pain in orthodontic patients. However, I believe that the expert panels involved in evaluating the face and content validity of the questionnaire should not have consisted only of clinicians (although some were undergoing or had recently undergone orthodontic treatment). Surely the relevant experts are young people, in the intended age range for the questionnaire, who are wearing fixed appliances. The experiences of these ‘real experts’ should ideally be sought at all stages of questionnaire development.