title: Occlusal status in orthodontically treated and untreated adolescents.
abstract: In order to evaluate the outcome of orthodontic care, all available 16-year-old adolescents (n = 138) living within the catchment area of one Finnish health center were invited for a clinical examination. A total of 126 adolescents participated, corresponding to 79% of the whole age cohort. Of these, 47% had been treated orthodontically, 2% were still wearing appliances, and 51% were untreated. In 80% of cases, a non-extraction treatment was carried out. All occlusions were evaluated using a recently developed occlusal morphology and functional index (OMFI) based on assessment of 6 morphological and 4 functional traits which are classified applying an acceptable-non-acceptable dichotomy. The occlusal status in untreated individuals was used as a second reference in comparisons between the treated and untreated occlusions. The morphological criteria for an acceptable occlusion were met by 42% of the participants and the functional criteria by 64%. Although the treated occlusions failed to meet the criteria of morphological acceptability more often than the untreated ones (73% vs 40%), the proportions of non-acceptable occlusions were fairly high among untreated occlusions. The main reasons for non-acceptability were the failure of the canine relationship, overbite, and protrusion movement to fulfill the criteria of acceptability. Only 19% of the adolescents had occlusions classified as acceptable, both morphologically and functionally. In the evaluated health center, the allocation of resources resulted in a high coverage of orthodontic care. However, our results indicate that the general occlusal status in the examined age cohort did not reach an optimal level.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. anlisve@utu.fi
authors.forename: Anna-Liisa
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Svedström-Oristo
authors.forename: Terttu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pietilä
authors.forename: Ilpo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pietilä
authors.forename: Pentti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alanen
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Varrela
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D016302:Centric Relation; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003481:Cuspid / Q000473:pathology; D003724:Dental Arch / Q000473:pathology; D003766:Dental Occlusion; D003768:Dental Occlusion, Centric; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009967:Orthodontic Appliances; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective; D010349:Patient Compliance; D019035:Rural Health Services; D016896:Treatment Outcome