The subjective need and demand for orthodontic treatment amongst 955 12-year-old Sheffield children has been assessed using the aesthetic component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need and by a fixed choice questionnaire. When answering the questionnaire a greater proportion of females perceived themselves as having less attractive dentitions and greater treatment need despite any objective evidence to support this view. Of the children at the attractive end of the aesthetic component scale 84ṃ5 per cent were prepared to accept orthodontic treatment of an unspecified nature.