Agreement and association between normative and subjective orthodontic treatment need using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need.

AIMS: To determine the association and level of agreement between young adults' perception of orthodontic treatment need (subjective need) and the orthodontists' assessment of treatment need (normative objective need). METHODOLOGY: For this study, 670 students [280 males and 390 females; mean age (standard deviation) of 15.32 (1.81) years] were selected from public and private schools from different demographic areas of Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia, and divided into two age groups (12-15 years) and (16-19 years). All the participants were examined, and the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) components [dental health component (DHC) and aesthetic component (AC)] were recorded. RESULTS: Kappa statistics showed a statistically significant but fair agreement between clinician AC (CAC) and student AC (SAC) assessments in both age groups (k = 0.343 and 0.334, respectively; P < 0.001), whereas Spearman's correlation coefficient showed a statistically significant but moderate association (r = 0.487 and 0.517, respectively; P < 0.001). The degrees of agreement were 76.4% and 76.7% at the no-need and mild-need levels of treatment, respectively. There was a statistically significant but weak association between the subjective and normative needs (SAC and IOTN-DHC) in both age groups (r = 0.336 and 0.360, respectively; P < 0.001). However, the degrees of agreement were 58.9% and 61.5% at the no-need and mild-need levels of treatment, respectively. CONCLUSION: Significant but weak positive association was found between the normative and subjective orthodontic treatment needs, indicating a lack of understanding of the nature of malocclusion and its consequences. Thus, promoting further knowledge and awareness of malocclusion are indicated.

Orthodontic treatment needs in Saudi young adults and manpower requirements.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate orthodontic treatment needs using the index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN) components and to estimate the required manpower in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 670 participants (390 females and 280 males) collected between November 2016 and April 2017, whose ages ranged from 12-19 years from secondary and high school students. Treatment needs were estimated using the IOTN components, dental health component (DHC), and aesthetic component (AC). RESULTS: The results according to the severity of malocclusion using IOTN-DHC found that 24.3% of the cases required severe/extreme need and 54.3% were in the no/slight need category. The most frequent types of malocclusion were crowding (48.8%) followed by increased overjet (21.8%), and spacing (16.1%). Using Pearson's Chi-squared test, there was a statistically significant association (p less than 0.001) between IOTN-DHC and IOTN-AC; 51.2% of the sample was in agreement at the mild need category, indicating a strong correlation, with a coefficient of 0.687. CONCLUSION: According to the IOTN's components, the present study showed that almost one-quarter of the sample had a severe/extreme need for orthodontic treatment. The most frequent type of malocclusion traits according to the severity was crowding followed by increased overjet and then spacing. The Ministry of Health must employ 90-110 orthodontists in Jeddah to meet the demands of the definite needs for orthodontics in adolescents.

Cephalometric features of anterior open bite.

AIMS: To evaluate and characterize the skeletodental morphology of anterior open-bite cases in the Saudi Arabian population and the differences between males and females. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Cephalometric characteristics of 111 (58 females, 53 males) subjects with anterior open bite were compared with 60 (30 females and 30 males) control subjects. Both open-bite and control subjects were patients in the orthodontic department at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. The inclusion criterion for open-bite subjects was the presence of at least 1-mm anterior open bite. For control subjects, the criteria were orthognathic profile with a Class I molar and canine relationship. All cephalometric radiographs were digitized. RESULTS: Both female and male open-bite subjects showed a significant increase in the lower anterior facial height, mandibular plane angle, gonial angle, Y-axis, mandibular occlusal plane to SN angle, and a significant decrease in maxillary length. Both the maxilla and the mandible were in a retruded position in relation to the SN plane. In addition, the interincisal angle was significantly increased. However, all dental heights showed no significant differences between open-bite and control subjects. Gender differences were found only in the significantly decreased linear skeletal measurements and in mandibular anterior and posterior dental heights. Comparison between the results of this study and reported studies of other populations revealed insignificant differences in most of the measurements. CONCLUSION: This study confirms previous studies that showed the openbite malocclusion is largely due to changes in the skeletal pattern.