title: Prevalence of malocclusion and assessment of treatment needs in β-thalassemia major children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of malocclusion and treatment needs in transfusion dependent β-thalassemia major children.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred transfusion dependent β-thalassemia major children visiting the Department of Pediatrics were selected randomly and evaluated for malocclusion with Angle's classification and Dewey's modification. The orthodontic treatment needs were also assessed using Grainger's treatment priority index (TPI). The orthodontic treatment needs were compared to normal children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The assessment of treatment needs revealed a higher prevalence of handicapping and severely handicapping malocclusion in thalassemic children compared to normal children. The thalassemic patients were found to show significantly more Angle's Class II malocclusion (55% vs. 15.7%) when compared to normal children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The higher prevalence of Angle's Class II malocclusion and definitive malocclusion in thalassemic children indicates the importance of preventive orthodontic procedures and efforts towards providing orthodontic treatment to these children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthpaedics, Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. gupta_drdeepak@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Deepak Kumar
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Unit of Orthodontics, Oral Health Sciences Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India. drspsingh_chd@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Satinder Pal
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Unit of Orthodontics, Oral Health Sciences Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India. ashokutreja@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Utreja
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthpaedics, Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. drsanjuverma@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verma
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017086:beta-Thalassemia
keywords: Malocclusion; Prevalence; TPI index; Thalassemia