title: Untreated Gross Dental Malocclusion in Adolescents: Psychological Impact and Effect on Academic Performance in School.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the psychological impact and effect on academic performance of untreated gross dental malocclusion in adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 366 (181 girls and 185 boys) adolescents with gross dental malocclusion were selected for the study group. A modified oral aesthetic subjective impact scale questionnaire was applied in face-to-face interviews. Similar data were collected from parents, schoolteachers and one friend of each adolescent selected for the study. Academic performance was evaluated from school records and compared with a control group of 400 adolescents (200 girls and 200 boys) having normal occlusion and an aesthetically pleasing facial appearance. The Kruskal-Wallis H and chi-square tests were used to analyse the data. The correlation between the academic performance of adolescents and the psychological impact of malocclusion was assessed using the Spearman rank correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant numbers of adolescents (81.1%) were concerned about the appearance of their teeth, with significant gender variation (0.02). 88.5% of the adolescents received comments from others about their appearance. The results differed significantly by gender for 'avoiding smiling' (p = 0.02) and 'participation in social activities' (p = 0.02). The evaluation of academic performance showed that 42.1% of the adolescents with gross dental malocclusion performed below average; this also differed statistically significantly by gender (p = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Untreated gross dental malocclusion significantly affects the psychosocial well-being of adolescents, who may avoid participating in social activities and tend to underperform in school.
authors.forename: Sakeenabi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Basha
authors.forename: Roshan Noor
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: Hiremath Shivalinga
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Swamy
authors.forename: Poornima
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Parameshwarappa
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061326:Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012904:Smiling; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology