Orthodontic Treatment Need and its Psychosocial Impact among Students from Technological University, Kyaukse

Abstract

Malocclusion is one of the oral conditions which may handicap to functional needs and interfere with daily life of an individual. The main benefit of orthodontic treatment may be improvement in aesthetics and psychosocial well-being. The aim of this study was to assess orthodontic treatment need and its psychosocial impact among students from Technological University, Kyaukse.
A total of 277 university students (122 males and 155 females) participated in this cross-sectional descriptive study. Data concerning sociodemographic characteristics, malocclusion traits measured by IOTN-DHC index and malocclusion-related quality of life assessed by PIDAQ were determined.
Mean age of the participants was 18.76±2.31 years ranging from 16 to 30 years. Majority of participants (63.9%) had experience of dental visit. Concerning orthodontic treatment need grading, majority of the students (45.9%) was Grade 1 followed by Grade 2 (22.9%). In relating to psychosocial impact, mean PIDAQ total scores were 32.91±13.03 in males and 30.66±14.38 in females. IOTN-DHC (5 grades) was categorized into three groups and bivariate analysis with PIDAQ score was done. Significant difference of total PIDAQ score was found in male group (p=0.015). Relating to subscale of PIDAQ scores (4 subscales), Social Impact (SI) and Psychological Impact (PI) were statistically significant different among three groups of IOTN-DHC in total sample. Furthermore, there was significant but weak positive correlation (rho=0.243, p=0.007) between IOTN-DHC grades and PIDAQ scores in male group. According to IOTN-DHC, although nearly one-fifth of the participants need some form of orthodontic treatment clinically, total psychological impact score was low in this study. The information from the present study may provide baseline data for oral health promotion programs particularly regarding orthodontic treatment need in university students.