title: A comparative study of aesthetic perceptions of malocclusion among general practice dentists, orthodontists and the public using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the IOTN-AC.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Perception of malocclusion varies among individuals and among patients and practitioners. Although several indices that tend to coincide in many aspects and unify criteria, no single index has been recognised as the most suitable for assessing orthodontic treatment need. Moreover, orthodontists are not always aware of the differences in perception of malocclusion between patients and practitioners.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the perception of dental anaesthetics amongst dentists, orthodontists and the general population, study the relationship between the perception of dental aesthetics and the severity of the malocclusion, using the visual analogue scale and the IOTN-AC, and investigate relationships among the resulting data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Frontal intraoral photographs of 24 cases were classified by the severity of their malocclusion according to the DAI index. The photographs were examined by 150 individuals (30 orthodontists, 30 general dental practitioners and 90 members of the general population), who assessed them on a visual analogue scale and according to the IOTN-AC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The orthodontists gave the lowest scores on the visual analogue scale, although the differences between the three groups were not significant. For DAI grades 1, 3 and 4, significant differences were found in the IOTN-AC assessments. Here too, the orthodontist group was the most critical.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In general, in all three groups, both the visual analogue scale and IOTN-AC scores increased or decreased in line with the severity of the malocclusion according to the DAI. However, the correlation between these scores was low. The orthodontists scored the malocclusions more critically than the general dentists or the general population with the IOTN-AC, but this difference was not found with the visual analogue scale.Key words:IOTN-AC, DAI, malocclusion.
authors.affiliation: Orthodontist. Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Julián-Castellote
authors.affiliation: Lecturer on the Master of Orthodontics course, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: García-Sanz
authors.affiliation: Assistant Lecturer, Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: José-María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Montiel-Company
authors.affiliation: Tenured Lecturer, Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: José-Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Almerich-Silla
authors.affiliation: Associate lecturer, Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bellot-Arcís