title: The prevalence and severity of malocclusion and the need for orthodontic treatment in 9-, 12-, and 15-year-old Glasgow schoolchildren.
abstract: An epidemiological investigation involving 765 Glasgow schoolchildren aged nine, twelve, and fifteen years was undertaken to assess the severity of malocclusion, the need for orthodontic treatment, and the proportion of children in each age group who had previously received treatment. An index termed the Malocclusion Severity Index (MSI) was developed to establish objectively the severity of malocclusion in each individual. Fifty sets of orthodontic study models and six orthodontists assessed the reproducibility and validity of the index. Although there was a significant reduction in the proportion of children in need of orthodontic treatment between 9 and 15 years of age, a considerable number were still in need of treatment; crowding of their dentitions being responsible for the majority of the treatment requirement. The MSI was found to be as precise and valid as previously developed occlusal indices, for estimating the treatment needs of sample populations.
authors.affiliation: Glasgow Dental Hospital.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D015588:Observer Variation; D009967:Orthodontic Appliances / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012606:Scotland; D012690:Serial Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index