Orthodontic treatment need in Latvia

Area of Science:

• Dental Public Health
• Orthodontics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Planning effective orthodontic services requires understanding malocclusion prevalence and treatment needs.
• Patient attitudes toward malocclusion are increasingly significant in orthodontic care.
• Accurate estimates of treatment need and demand are crucial for service development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the prevalence and need for orthodontic treatment among 12-13-year-old school children in Latvia.
• To compare treatment needs in urban versus rural school settings.
• To explore the correlation between patient perception and objective measures of orthodontic need.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 504 school children aged 12-13 years in urban and rural Latvian schools.
• Utilized the Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON) for objective assessment.
• Administered questionnaires to gauge patient perceptions of dental appearance and treatment need.

Main Results:

• Overall orthodontic treatment need was 35.3%, with significant variations between schools, notably higher in Daugavpils than Riga.
• No statistically significant differences in treatment need were found between rural and urban settings or between genders.
• A significant correlation was observed between individuals dissatisfied with their teeth arrangement and higher ICON scores.

Conclusions:

• Malocclusion prevalence in Latvian adolescents necessitates targeted orthodontic service planning.
• Patient self-perception of dental aesthetics is a key indicator of orthodontic treatment need.
• Geographic variations in treatment need, potentially linked to genetics or ethnicity, warrant further investigation.