This study examines, from photographic records, the prevalence of accidental damage to maxillary incisor teeth in a group of 968 11/12-year-old South Wales school-children; 15.3% showed evidence of trauma ranging from enamel fractures or discolouration to actual loss of a tooth. Boys (19.4%) showed a higher prevalence of trauma than girls (11%). Maxillary central incisors were the most at risk from trauma, with coronal fractures being the most commonly sustained injury. Those subjects who showed evidence of trauma had an statistically (p less than 0.001) but not clinically significantly greater overjet than did those who had none. The percentage of subjects suffering trauma increased significantly with increasing overjet, but lip incompetence did not affect the prevalence of accidental damage. Though statistically unsupported due to the small numbers involved in this cohort, it appeared that the rougher nature of boys activities and their more active participation in sports were of greater importance than the magnitude of their overjet in determining whether their teeth were at risk from trauma. In contrast, it was the magnitude of the overjet which was the dominant factor in girls. Despite the wide availability of relatively simple means of restoration and, in the majority of cases, regular dental examinations, only 14.8% of traumatised teeth had received treatment at this age.
Longitudinal analysis revealed that the observed effect of orthodontic treatment on self esteem at outcome was accounted for by self esteem at baseline. Prior need for treatment assessed in childhood made a small contribution to the prediction of self-esteem 20 years later in adulthood. Dental status in adulthood, whilst statistically significant, appeared to be of minor importance in a model that included other psychological variables. When prior need for treatment was taken into account there was little objective evidence to support the assumption that orthodontics improves long-term psychological health.
The overall eruption and dental disease status of a group of 1015 11-12-yr-old schoolchildren in South Wales is presented. The mean number of teeth erupted was 21.8 with a distribution pattern reflecting continuing eruption of teeth at this age. Almost equal numbers of contralateral and opposing tooth types were present with exceptions including maxillary canines and lateral incisors. DMFT, DMFS, and DFS scores were consistent with other recent studies. The mean plaque score was 2.44 and showed a normal distribution for the group. All children had gingivitis at one or more sites as evidenced by bleeding on probing, and again the distribution pattern was a normal one. The mean pocketing was 1.24 mm and there was little clinical evidence of chronic periodontitis. As expected, plaque and gingivitis showed a very high and significant correlation, with plaque and pocketing and gingivitis and pocketing having lower correlation coefficients which were nevertheless highly significant.
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