title: Evaluation of awareness regarding orthodontic procedures among a group of preadolescents in a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was carried out to know the level of awareness regarding orthodontic procedures among preadolescents as there is very high prevalence of malocclusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 1010 subjects with a mean age of (in years) was 13.02 ± 2.146. A self-administered structured questionnaire proforma was used. Pilot study was done to validate the questionnaire, which was constituted of nine items. The Student's t-test and ANOVA test along with stepwise multiple linear regression were applied for the statistical evaluation of means. The level of significance was set at 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall awareness of orthodontist among the school going children was 45.1%. The knowledge of orthodontic procedures was significantly higher among girls (4.46 ± 1.671) when compared to boys (4.00 ± 1.489). When the results were compared according to the area of location most of the students in the urban areas gave a positive response regarding awareness when compared to children in the rural community.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This group of preadolescents showed moderate level of awareness regarding orthodontic procedures as they mentioned that it helps in esthetics, better oral hygiene, mastication, and healthy lifestyle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Rungta Dental College, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India.
authors.forename: Madhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Maharana Pratap Dental College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Jaideep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Buddha Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India.
authors.forename: Garima
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mangal
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, K.D Dental College, Mathura, India.
authors.forename: Pramod
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yadav
keywords: Awareness; malocclusion; orthodontic treatment; preadolescents