Anterior tooth position and motivation for early treatment

During 1989-90, 473 parents of children being screened at an orthodontic graduate clinic completed a self-report form about the child's dental/facial appearance, reasons for seeking care and referral paths. Almost all (85%) of the 313 parents of children under the age of 16 years expressed concern about the appearance of the child's teeth, and 44% reported the child had been teased about this. Only 14% of the parents reported that it was the child who had first noticed the need for treatment. The rank order of reasons for seeking treatment were appearance of teeth (85%), advice of dentist (73%), and appearance of face (46%). Using logistic regression, overjet and malalignment were observed to be significant predictors of the parent-report of the child being teased (odds ratios, OR, 5.5 and 2.4, respectively). Overjet predicted citing facial appearance as the reason for seeking treatment (OR 2.9), while age predicted patient-referral (OR 2.2) and overjet predicted parental referral (OR 3.0). Increased overjet is an important focus for early treatment and might accordingly be expected to influence the value of early intervention.