Prevalence of malocclusion among 12 year-old school children in Lagos State

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of dentofacial anomalies presenting as malocclusion in 12 year-old Nigerian school children in the Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State; Nigeria. Methodology: The study; which involved a sample of 200 children; was carried out employing the World Health Organization Pathfinder Methodology for oral health surveys. Malocclusion was recorded as being absent; slight or moderate/severe based on the WHO criteria as outlined in the methodology. Results: Sixty-eight per cent (68) of the children had normal occlusion i.e. absence of malocclusion. Slight malocclusion was present in 22; while 10 had moderate to severe malocclusion. There was no sex predilection for malocclusion. Among the ethnic groups; there was no significant difference in prevalence of malocclusion. Conclusion: In view of the handicapping effects of dentofacial anomalies; which tend to affect a person's aesthetics; masticatory function; speech and indeed social acceptability; there is a need to institute measures; which would help in the prevention of some of the malocclusion types seen in the study. The establishment of school oral healthcare programme; which would also provide preventive orthodontic care; is advocated. However; the small number seen among some ethnic groups precludes the extrapolation of this finding to the larger population. There is a need to carry out national surveys