Prevalence of orthodontic treatment entails utilizing index of orthodontic treatment need among school children in Belgaum city

Abstract

Background: Appraisal of distribution of malocclusion in childhood can facilitate efforts to prevent such a disorder and its consequences. This study was undertaken to assess the need for orthodontic treatment among 12–15-year-old school children of Belgaum city. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 250 students randomly selected were examined. The examinations were carried out using the dental health (DHC) and aesthetic components (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) to measure the need for orthodontic treatment. Results: Study showed that among 250 children examined 134 (53.6%) males and 116 (46.4%) female’s participants in the study. Orthodontic treatment need was discovered to be greater among males than females. Frequency of grade 5 treatment need was 11.9% and 7.8% among males and females respectively. Age wise distribution showed highest orthodontic treatment need among 12 years old children, however, maximum subjects (38.2%) had slight need. In spite of high frequency of definite need (22.2%) among 15 years old children, the overall need for treatment was lowest. Illustrated Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) results (%) considering the Aesthetic Component (AC) and Dental Health Component (DHC) together. There were 24.8% subjects with definite need of treatment.