Public assistance orthodontic treatment needs: a report from the state of Indiana

To determine how many of the orthodontic cases covered by Indiana Medicaid between 1999-2001 would be classified pretreatment as having a malocclusion severe enough to warrant treatment.

Six examiners were trained and then paired together to examine 249 patient orthodontic case records, consisting either of pre-treatment photographs only, pre-treatment models only, or both pre-treatment models and photos. The examiners applied the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Needs (IOTN) to assign each case a Grade of One to Five, with Grade One representing Ideal Occlusion and Grade Five being Extreme Malocclusion. When two examiners within a pair could not agree, a third examiner reviewed the case record to determine agreement.

Of the 249 patient cases examined, 9 were not gradable. In the cases where only pretreatment models were available (n=157), 10% received a Grade of One or Two (Ideal Occlusion or Mild Malocclusion, respectively). Among the cases in which both pretreatment models and photos were available (n=46), 44% of the photos were graded One or Two, while only 2% of the models were graded as One or Two. In the cases where only pretreatment photographs were available (n=37), 27% of cases were Grade One or Two.

While several of the cases (11%) submitted during the time period of 1999 to 2001 to the Indiana State Medicaid Division for reimbursement were rated as having Ideal Occlusions or Mild Malocclusions, the vast majority (89 %) were scored as having either Moderate, Severe, or Extreme Malocclusion.