Acceptability of Dental Appearance in a Group of Finnish 16- to 25-Year-Olds

Abstract

Objective: To define a grade in the Aesthetic Component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) that would differentiate between esthetically acceptable and unacceptable occlusions and that would also be both subjectively and objectively meaningful. Materials and Methods: Dental appearance and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need were analyzed in a group of Finnish young adults (171 males, 263 females, age range 16-25 years). Subjective data were gathered using a questionnaire, and the respondents were requested to score their dental appearance on a visual analog type 10-grade scale. Professional assessment of dental appearance was performed by two orthodontists using the AC of the IOTN. The cutoff value between esthetically acceptable and unacceptable occlusions was defined using receiver operating characteristic curves. Results: Sixty-six percent of orthodontically treated and 74% of the untreated respondents were satisfied with their own dental appearance. Every third respondent reported one or more disturbing traits in their dentition. The most frequently expressed reason for dissatisfaction was crowding; girls expressed dissatisfaction more often than boys did (P ϭ .005). A self-perceived treatment need was reported infrequently by 8% of orthodontically treated and 6% of untreated respondents. In the logistic regression analysis, self-perceived need for orthodontic treatment was the only significant factor explaining dissatisfaction with own dental esthetics. On the applied scales, grades 1 and 2 fulfilled the criteria for satisfactory dental esthetics. Conclusion:The results suggest that the AC grade 3 could serve as a cutoff value between esthetically acceptable and unacceptable occlusions. (Angle Orthod. 2009;79:479-483.)

Perception of orthodontic treatment need among Swedish children, adolescents and young adults

“…Our finding that lay people set a lower limit for orthodontic treatment than the professional standards is in agreement with others [19][20][21] and also professionals have set a lower limit [21] than suggested or used in the literature [22,23]. We found that 15-and 19-year-old set a low limit for orthodontic treatment need.…”

“…Moreover, in an untreated sample, the AC-IOTN improved slightly from 11 to 19 years of age [22]. Many studies [6,20,26,36] used self-ranking of dental aesthetics as an indication of selfperceived orthodontic treatment need. Further studies -including normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment -must be done to identify possible influencing factors and suggest possible measures.…”

Associação entre presença de oclusopatias e insatisfação com a aparência dos dentes e gengivas: estudo com adolescentes brasileiros

“…Segundo os resultados do presente estudo, o Índice de Estética Dental (DAI), quando utilizado conjuntamente com um critério subjetivo, pode ser considerado uma boa ferramenta epidemiológica para ser aplicada em inquéritos populacionais, assim como auxiliar na definição da priorização do atendimento ortodôntico, a fim de contribuir para a alocação de recursos públicos para a saúde 25 . O acesso a tratamento ortodôntico tem sido relatado na literatura científica como um dos fatores determinantes na autoavaliação positiva da aparência dentária 20,26 , reforçando a importância de se incorporar de forma efetiva e eficiente este tipo de tratamento no SUS.…”

Evaluation of Orthodontic Treatment Need and Its Correlation with the Perception, Awareness and Satisfaction of Personal Dental Appearance among Dental Students

“…Anna-Liisa et al 22 assessed the correlation between dental appearance and self-perception of orthodontic treatment need with the help of EC of IOTN 74% subjects were satisfied with their own dental appearance and highly significant correlation was observed between orthodontic rating and subjects satisfaction with his or her own dental appearance (p < 0.001). This reiterates the fact that dental students have better perception of dental occlusion and realize its importance in facial appearance.…”