Dental esthetic perceptions and orthodontic treatment needs among school children aged 9–18 years of South Bengaluru: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Individual perception of malocclusion may vary from the clinician's point of view. Assessment of individual perception of malocclusion is important for treatment planning, priority setting, allocation of resources, as well as for patient education and motivation. Aim: To assess the perceptions of orthodontic treatment needs of school children and to find out the correlation, if any, between the subjective treatment need perceived by children and the objective need. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted among school children of South Bengaluru aged 9–18 years. The study was cross-sectional in design, and a convenience sampling method was adopted. The clinical examination was conducted using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) modified for use in epidemiological surveys (Modified IOTN). Chi-square/Fisher's exact test has been used to find the significance of study variables at 5% level of significance. Results: Among the participated children, 21% needed orthodontic treatment and among 79% of children there was no need for treatment according to the Dental Health Component (DHC) of the IOTN. There was a significant correlation between the subjective need for treatment and the IOTN-DHC. Conclusions: There exists a significant correlation between the subjective need for orthodontic treatment assessed using the index and the objective need perceived by the patient. Hence, it is necessary to evaluate the perceptions of subjects before beginning of any treatment planning to meet the expectations of patients in general as it is the patient who gains satisfaction from treatment