title: Orthodontic treatment need for adolescents in the Campania region: the malocclusion impact on self-concept.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dental malocclusions can be considered not only as an oral health problem, because they are linked to quality of life perception. Many factors related to malocclusion have strong influences on the perception of facial esthetics (eg, anterior tooth alignment, tooth shape and position, lip thickness, symmetric gingival or tooth contour, lip profile, and overjet). Many reports have shown that the perception of facial esthetics can influence psychological development from early childhood to adulthood. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of dental malocclusion on self-esteem in a sample of adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population was composed of 516 orthodontically untreated subjects (256 males) mean ages 13.75±1.977 years recruited from schools in the Campania region of Italy between January 2011 and July 2011. To evaluate the self-esteem grade in our population, all subjects filled out the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale questionnaire and attended an orthodontic clinical evaluation to estimate dental occlusal aspects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pearson's analysis shows the relationship in our sample between some occlusal characteristics (crossbite and dental crowding) and aspects of self-concept evaluation (social, competence, academic, physical, and global score) of the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale questionnaire. Moreover, logistic regression analysis shows the potential role of dental crowding (odds ratio 5.359; 95% confidence interval 3.492-8.225) and crossbite (odds ratio 6.153; 95% confidence interval 3.545-10.678) as risk factors for development of global self-concept score abnormalities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings confirm the relationship between psychosocial well-being, self-esteem, and dental malocclusion among adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Perillo
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Mental Health, Physical and Preventive Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caprioglio
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Attanasio
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Mental Health, Physical and Preventive Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Annamaria Chiara
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Santini
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Mental Health, Physical and Preventive Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carotenuto
keywords: adolescents; crossbite; dental crowding; dental malocclusion; self-concept