Prevalence of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need in 10-year-old New Zealand children.
The need for orthodontic treatment was determined in a random sample of 10-year-old Dunedin, New Zealand schoolchildren using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI); an index based on the social acceptability of dental appearance. When absent or unerupted teeth were disregarded, orthodontic treatment was considered to be "mandatory" for one-third of the children. The remaining children were almost equally divided into the three other treatment-need groups: "highly desirable", "elective", and "not necessary". The majority of the children had crowding and spacing in at least one incisor segment, and a molar occlusion other than Angle Class I. In this predominately mixed-dentition sample, more children were considered to need orthodontic treatment than older children in studies using the DAI. This raises some questions about the suitability of the DAI as a tool to assess orthodontic treatment need in mixed-dentition samples.
Johnson
M
M
University of Otago, New Zealand.
Harkness
M
M
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003818:Dentition, Mixed; D003970:Diastema; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008963:Molar; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D015588:Observer Variation; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D012928:Social Desirability; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology; D014097:Tooth, Unerupted / Q000453:epidemiology