Association between malocclusion and other occlusions in mixed and permanent dentitions: a cross-sectional study

Malocclusion, a dental abnormality commonly found in children, has been associated with a risk of developing other occlusion problems. In the literature, no comparison has been made as to whether children with mixed or permanent dentition are more predisposed to occlusion problems from malocclusion. The present study aims to investigate various occlusion problems that may arise later in life due to malocclusion.

This cross-sectional study included 500 children below the age of 12 years at Taibah University Hospital (Aug 2024-April 2025). Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants, who were also excluded if they had undergone previous orthodontic treatment or had craniofacial abnormalities. Standardized intraoral clinical examinations were conducted to assess malocclusion, dentition type, tooth wear, traumatic dental injury, and gingival recession. The data were analyzed using SPSS-v22 with descriptive statistics and chi-square and logistic regression analyses to list factors related to malocclusion.

In analyses, malocclusion was associated with tooth wear and permanent dentition. In multivariable analysis, tooth wear (adjusted OR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.49-0.99) and permanent dentition (adjusted OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.45-0.91) were inversely associated with malocclusion, while traumatic dental injury was not. Model explanatory power was low (Nagelkerke R ² = 0.028).

Tooth wear and permanent dentition were inversely associated with malocclusion, whereas traumatic dental injury and mixed dentition were not. The low explanatory power highlights the multifactorial and developmentally dynamic nature of malocclusion, suggesting that occlusal irregularities during dentition transition may be transient rather than predictive of persistent malocclusion.