Authors : Uday Kumar Digumarthi, R.Prakash, K Rajasigamani
DOI : 10.18231/j.jco.2020.036
Volume : 4
Issue : 4
Year : 2020
Page No : 29-33
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the orthodontic status and perceived orthodontic treatment needs of 2016 tribal adolescents screened in the Paderu Revenue Division of Visakhapatnam District. The sample chosen for this epidemiological survey comprised of a total of 2016 higher secondary schools students aged 13 to 19 years (1157 boys and 859 girls) none of whom had undergone any prior orthodontic treatment. The occlusion of the students was assessed and classified into the categories of ideal occlusion and Angle’s Class I, II & III malocclusions. Other parameters noted were overjet, overbite, crowding, spacing and midline diastema. Results revealed that 32% had normal occlusion. Of the 68% with malocclusion 71% had Angle’s Class I malocclusions, 27% had Angle’s Class II malocclusions & 2% had Angle’s Class III malocclusions. Questions were posed during the examination process to assess orthodontic awareness, self -perceived dental esthetics and perceived treatment needs. While 81% were aware of orthodontic treatment only 16% had a perceived need for treatment. The most prevalent malocclusion amongst the tribal adolescents was Angles’s Class I malocclusion with bimaxillary proclination. A chi-square test of independence showed that there was no significant association between gender and the prevalence of malocclusion, X2 (2, N = 2016) = 5.5, p = .13.