Evaluation of orthodontic treatment needs in junior male students of Yazd high schools, Iran

Background and aim: There are no strict criteria in determining the need for orthodontic treatment and dentists often have different opinion on assessing the orthodontic treatment needs. Making an appropriate estimation of the need and demand for orthodontic treatments is necessary to organize and provide meaningful orthodontic services. In this study, the orthodontic treatment needs were evaluated in highschool boys of Yazd.Materials and methods: ۴۲۰ students who were studying in ۱۴ different high schools were randomly selected. All participants were examined under normal white light and DHC(dental health component) ruler. To assess the orthodontic treatment needs, the dental health component of IOTN index was used. The data were analyzed by Chi-square test and p-value was ۰.۰۵.Results: Measurements showed that ۴۴.۸% of students scored ۱, ۱۵.۱% scored ۲, ۱۳.۶% scored ۳, ۱۵.۳% scored ۴ and ۱۰.۷% scored ۵ in DHC records. The most frequent malocclusions observed in this study population were contact point displacement (۲۷.۳%), crossbite (۱۳.۳%), hypodontia (۱۲.۸%) and increased overjet (۹.۳%).Conclusion: Based on the results, approximately one fourth of participants had definite need for orthodontic treatments (IOTN Grades ۴ and ۵) which is a warning sign. More studies are needed to be done on different populations of the country to make the governors able for organizing oral health programs and providing beneficial dental insurance.

کلیدواژه ها:

IOTN ، dental health component(DHC) ، Iranian