The objective and quantitative analysis of malocclusion: Part 2. Influence of malocclusion compenents to treatment difficulty / 대한치과교정학회지

As one of the variations in growth and development of the craniofacial complex, malocclusion shows lack of concordance in the recognition and severity of malocclusion for dentists as well as the acceptance and need of orthodontic treatment for the patient. The purposes of this study were 1) to examine the relationships between objective malocclusion severity and subjective treatment difficulty, 2) to evaluate the effect of malocclusion components to the subjective perceived difficulty of treatment, 3) to establish the weighted values of malocclusion components to reflect the treatment difficulty. 100 pairs of dental casts with the general characteristics of malocclusion, were selected from the orthodontic departments of Kyunghee University and Samsung Medical Center. The severity of malocclusion was evaluated by the author with the PAR index. The perceived treatment difficulty and the estimated treatment duration on these dental models were evaluated by 8 experienced orthodontists. The relationships between the objective malocclusion severity and the subjective treatment difficulty were statistically evaluated, and the weighted values of malocclusion components to reflect treatment difficulty were statistically formulated. There were significant relationships between objective malocclusion severity and subjective treatment difficulty. The malocclusion components which significantly affected the treatment difficulty and their weighted values in parentheses were as follows; upper anterior alignment (1), overbite (2), buccal occlusion (3), midline (4), and overjet (5). This study provides the fundamental principle to evaluate the objective malocclusion severity which is reflected by the subjective treatment difficulty of Korean orthodontists.

The objective and quantitative analysis of malocclusion: Part 1. Objective malocclusion severity and subjective treatment difficulty / 대한치과교정학회지

The evaluation of malocclusion has to be done quantitatively and qualitatively. This will be lead toward an analysis of malocclusion severity as well as treatment difficulty. The method of proper evaluation of malocclusion severity and treatment difficulty is necessary to assess treatment effect and efficiency for the orthodontists and to establish fundamentals for planning and executing the health-related policies in private and public institutions. The purposes of this study as the first part of the objective and quantitative analysis of malocclusion were 1) to measure treatment difficulty based on the opinions of several orthodontists, and 2) to investigate the relationships between objective malocclusion severity and subjective treatment difficulty. 100 pairs of dental casts that had various types and severity of malocclusion were selected from the orthodontic departments of Kyunghee University and Samsung Medical Center. The objective malocclusion severity was measured with the PAR (Peer Assessment Rating) index and the subjective treatment difficulty was evaluated by 8 experienced orthodontists. The relationships between objective malocclusion severity and subjective treatment difficulty were statistically evaluated. There were significant relationships between objective malocclusion severity and subjective treatment difficulty, especially in the measurements of the upper anterior alignment, the buccal occlusion, the overjet, the overbite and the midline discrepancy in the malocclusion components. The results of this study can provide the background knowledge to develop a new occlusal index, which contains both the malocclusion severity and treatment difficulty for Korean orthodontists.