Malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need of secondary school students in Nigeria according to the dental aesthetic index (DAI)

Abstract

The aims of this study were to measure the distribution, prevalence and the severity of malocclusion and treatment need amongst randomly selected (n = 703) rural and urban Nigerian children aged 12-18 years (mean 14.0 +/- 1.84) using the dental aesthetic index (DAI), and to assess whether malocclusion was affected by age, gender and socio-economic background. Data were collected according to the method recommended by WHO. Most of the children (77.4 per cent) had a dental appearance which required no orthodontic treatment. Over 13 per cent fell into the group where treatment for malocclusion is considered to be 'elective'. However, a substantial proportion (9.2 per cent) of the population had severe to handicapping malocclusion where treatment is 'highly desirable' or 'mandatory'. There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in DAI scores between age groups, gender and socio-economic background. This study also found that Nigerian adolescents had better dental appearance and less orthodontic treatment need compared with the Caucasian and Oriental populations.

Malocclusion and Orthodontic Treatment Need of Mentally Handicapped Children in Lagos, Nigeria

“…The Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) satisfies this need as well as being a simple and universally acceptable index, which can be used in epidemiological surveys to assess unmet treatment need 15 . There are several reports on occlusion and malocclusion among Nigerian children which had focused on the normal population [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] . However, there are relatively few studies on the handicapped in Nigeria especially in relation to orthodontics 13,[23][24][25] .…”

Epidemiology of malocclusion in children and adolescents: a critic review

“…Studies that adopted the DAI index in the investigation of malocclusion found that approximately 10.0% of individuals were evaluated in the incapacitating category 10,16,22 , with the most significant value being related in Toronto, where 42.6% of the sample were found to have this degree of malocclusion 8 . Locker et al 8 justified this by bearing in mind that his was a convenience sample, using orthodontic patients.…”

“…With regard to orthodontic treatment needs, the MSI presented a statistically different proportion The epidemiologic instruments adopted by researchers in their investigations has been rather varied. The IOTN and DAI were the most frequently adopted indices [4][5]8,[10][11][13][14][16][17][18][19][20]22 , while some studies were based on the evaluation of a specific occlusal alteration [2][3]6,9,12,21,23 . The amplitude of occlusion conditions, allied to the diverse methods of measuring malocclusions has made it difficult to perform comparisons of the results of epidemiological studies.…”

“…Year of Publication City/State/Country: Journal Locker et al 8 2007 Toronto Community Dent Oral Epidemiol Schwertner et al 9 2007 Foz do Iguaçu, PR RGO (Porto Alegre) Alves et al 10 2006 Feira de Santana, BA RGO (Porto Alegre) Gábris et al 11 2006 Hungary Eur J Orthod Oliveira et al 12 2006 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Rev CEFAC Souames et al 13 2006 18 2000 New Zealand Aust Orthod J Jonhson et al 19 2000 New Zealand Aust Orthod J Pereira et al 20 2000 São Paulo, SP Odontol USF Tomita et al 3 2000 Bauru, SP Pesq Odont Bras Alves et al 21 1999 Rio de Janeiro, RJ J Bras Odontopediatr Odontol Bebê Otuyemi et al 22 1999 Nigeria Int Dent J Tomita et al 23 1998 Bauru, SP Rev Fac Odontol Bauru Chart 1. Characteristics of the studies on epidemiology of malocclusion, according to year, place and journal in which published.…”

“…With regard to sample selection, it was randomly performed in 5 studies 2,4,6,9,14 , randomized in another 5 11,[17][18][19]22 , by convenience in 7 articles 5,8,10,[12][13][20][21] , probabilistic in 2 [15][16] and 2 by conglomerate 3,23 .…”