title: Dental esthetic self-perception in young adults with and without previous orthodontic treatment.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine which dental esthetic self-perception evaluation tool discriminated better between orthodontically treated or untreated Peruvian young adults. A total of 630 students were randomly chosen from the 2000 admitted in 2002 to a private university in Peru. Students undergoing active orthodontic treatment at the time of examination were excluded. Self-perceived dental esthetic appearance was evaluated through Standardized Continuum of Aesthetic Need, Oral Aesthetic Subjective Index Scale, and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). A stepwise multivariate discriminant analysis was developed to classify orthodontic treatment according to the three evaluation tools. A total of 199 students (31.6%) reported a history of orthodontic treatment. Differences between orthodontically treated and untreated groups were found only for the mean VAS score (P < .001). Although three different approaches were used to evaluate dental esthetic self-perception, only VAS allowed the discrimination of the self-perceived dental appearance between orthodontically treated and untreated Peruvian university young adults. Similarities in the self-perceived dental appearance of treated and untreated groups reported in previous epidemiological studies could be explained because different evaluation instruments were used. Further studies are required to support current findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Dentistry, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bernabé
authors.forename: Valeria D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Kresevic
authors.forename: Sandra C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cabrejos
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Flores-Mir
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flores-Mir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000523:psychology*; D010568:Peru; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires