[Do scoliotic patients need increased orthodontic treatment? A comparative study on 104 cases]

The diagnosis of scoliosis during orthodontic treatment is often attributed to orthodontic treatment, which may be a simple confounding factor. Do scoliotic patients require increased orthodontic treatment? Is the extent of their need for orthodontic treatment correlated with the severity of their scoliosis?

The authors conducted a comparative multicenter epidemiological study between a group of patients with a proven diagnosis of scoliosis objectified by the Cobb angle and a control group recruited from the general population. The endpoint was the Index Of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). The calculation of the number of subjects was made a priori. A statistical significance threshold of 5% was used for the statistical analysis.

In this study, 104 patients were included: 36 patients (10 boys, 26 girls) with an average age of 12.1 years (+/-2.3 years) in the scoliosis group (mean Cobb angle = 21°) versus 69 patients (20 boys, 49 girls) with an average age of 12 years (+/-2.7 years) in the control group. Patients with scoliosis have a significantly higher need for orthodontic treatment than the general population. The study did not correlate the severity of scoliosis with the increased need for orthodontic treatment.

Thus, the diagnosis of scoliosis during orthodontic treatment should not systematically result in the removal of the orthodontic appliance over-hastily held responsible for the scoliotic condition.