title: 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample comprised 704 secondary school adolescents aged 12 to 13 years from Balneário 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  =  .010), largest maxillary anterior irregularity ≥3 mm (P  =  .013), and largest mandibular anterior irregularity ≥2 mm (P  =  .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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fábio Rafael
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Tessarollo
authors.forename: Carlos Alberto
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Feldens
authors.forename: Luciane Q
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Closs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061326:Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000523:psychology*; D008409:Mastication; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012904:Smiling; D013060:Speech; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000523:psychology