Normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need in Nigerian school children

The aim of this study was to assess the normative and self-perceived need for orthodontic treatment in Nigerian children, and to evaluate distribution of orthodontic treatment need according to gender and age.

The sample consisted of 441 randomly selected school children, aged 11-18 years in Benin City, Nigeria. The subjects were further sub-grouped according to gender (229 males and 212 females) and age (246 11-13 years old and 195 14-18 years old). The Dental health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC) of Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) were used to assess orthodontic treatment need normatively. Self-perceived need was evaluated by asking the subjects to rate their dental aesthetics on the Aesthetic Component scale of IOTN. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate gender and age differences in distribution of treatment need.

A definite need for orthodontic treatment was found among 21.5% (grades 4-5 of DHC) and 6.3% (grades 8-10 of AC) of the subjects; 3.9% of the subjects perceived a definite need for orthodontic treatment (grades 8-10 of AC). There were no statistically significant gender and age differences in distribution of orthodontic treatment need among the subjects (p > 0.05).

The study revealed a need for orthodontic treatment in slightly more than one fifth (21.5%) of this sample of Nigerian children. The sample population has a lower need on aesthetic grounds and their normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment needs were not influenced by gender and age.