The impact of malocclusion on adolescents' dissatisfaction with dental appearance and oral functions

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the impact of malocclusion on adolescents' dissatisfaction with dental appearance and oral functions and to identify components of malocclusion that may contribute to these outcomes. Materials and Methods: The sample comprised 704 secondary school adolescents aged 12 to 13 years from Balneá rio Camboriú , Brazil. A trained and calibrated orthodontist examined the severity of malocclusion using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). A pretested questionnaire was used to assess reported dental appearance, self-perception of speech, and self-perception of masticatory function using a 5-point scale of oral health status. The outcomes of the present study were dissatisfaction with dental appearance and dissatisfaction with oral functions. Simple and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the association between DAI and outcomes and to quantify the effect of DAI components on dissatisfaction with dental appearance. Results: Each DAI unit increase led to a significant increase of 5% in the likelihood of dissatisfaction with dental appearance (OR: 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.08). DAI components that exerted influence on dissatisfaction with dental appearance were: missing teeth (P 5 .010), largest maxillary anterior irregularity $3 mm (P 5 .013), and largest mandibular anterior irregularity $2 mm (P 5 .008). There was no association between severity of malocclusion and dissatisfaction with oral functions. Conclusions: Severity of malocclusion interfered with satisfaction of dental appearance in this population. Missing teeth and anterior irregularity were identified as factors influencing this outcome. (Angle Orthod. 2012;82:403-409.)

Relationship of the Dental Aesthetic Index to the oral health-related quality of life

“…3,4 Furthermore, it can be used and adapted globally and crossculturally without any modification. [5][6][7] Unlike the IOTN, the DAI eliminates the need of a separate instrument to assess the aesthetic component.…”

Desire for orthodontic treatment and associated factors among adolescents in southern Brazil

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] Particular types of malocclusion seems to affect satisfaction with one's dental appearance, facial appearance, general appearance, and perceived attractivness. 2,[7][8][9] The high prevalence rates in different populations demonstrate that malocclusion is a public health problem that requires the planning and implementation of intervention strategies. 10,11 While orthodontic treatment is an effective manner to treat different types of malocclusion 12,13 and can lead to an improvement in quality of life, 4,13,14 the desire to undergo treatment has been explored little in the scientific literature.…”

Impact of malocclusion on oral health-related quality of life of preschool children

“…At the moment, most of the studies that assessed the impact of malocclusion on OHRQoL of preschoolers used convenience sample of patients who sought dental treatment 6,15 . Therefore, to our knowledge, this is one of the few study that assessed this issue in a representative sample.…”

“…In Brazil, it has been shown that the prevalence of malocclusion can be considered a public health problem, with 22.01% of children under 5 years old presenting slight occlusal problem and 14.45% had moderate or severe problem 4 . However, the exclusively use of such normative indicators has been considered inadequate for measuring oral health and orthodontics treatment needs [5][6] . It has been proposed that any criteria for definition of treatment needs should take into consideration how the health/ disease interferes with children's daily activities and quality of life [7][8] .…”