Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
General Dentist, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.
Niger J Clin Pract. 2021 Feb;24(2):161-167. doi: 10.4103/njcp.njcp_181_20.
This study aimed to assess parents' awareness and attitude regarding their children's malocclusion compared with professional assessments and to measure the prevalence of malocclusion among children in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The study population consisted of 377 randomly selected children (aged 8-12 years) from five schools in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was used to assess parents' awareness using the Aesthetic Component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and knowledge about preventive orthodontics. A clinical examination was performed by two calibrated examiners to measure the prevalence of malocclusion using both the AC and dental health component (DHC) of IOTN.
The most common Angle's molar relationship was Class I (78.2%), followed by Class II (17.5%) and Class III (4.2%). The DHC (score 3-5), which indicated the need for orthodontic treatment, was 55.4%. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between AC from examiners and parents, whereby the parents tended to underestimate their children's malocclusion by a factor of 1.45. Surprisingly, many parents (67.4%) lacked knowledge about preventive orthodontics.
Class I malocclusion was most prevalent among children in the area of Dammam. A moderate percentage (55.4%) of the study subjects required treatment based on the DHC. Based on the lack of knowledge about preventive orthodontics in the majority of parents in our study, it is recommended that oral health-promoting programs be implemented to improve the awareness of malocclusion in the region.
本研究旨在评估父母对子女错颌畸形的认知和态度，并与专业评估进行比较，同时测量沙特阿拉伯达曼地区儿童错颌畸形的患病率。
研究对象为沙特阿拉伯达曼市五所学校的 377 名随机抽取的儿童（年龄 8-12 岁）。采用问卷调查评估父母的认知水平，使用正畸治疗需求指数（IOTN）的美学成分（AC）和预防正畸知识来评估；由两名经过校准的检查者进行临床检查，使用 IOTN 的 AC 和口腔健康成分（DHC）来测量错颌畸形的患病率。
最常见的安氏磨牙关系为Ⅰ类（78.2%），其次是Ⅱ类（17.5%）和Ⅲ类（4.2%）。需要正畸治疗的 DHC（评分 3-5）为 55.4%。检查者和家长的 AC 存在显著差异（P < 0.05），家长往往低估孩子错颌畸形的程度，低估幅度为 1.45 倍。令人惊讶的是，许多家长（67.4%）对预防正畸缺乏了解。
达曼地区儿童中最常见的错颌畸形是Ⅰ类。根据 DHC，有中等比例（55.4%）的研究对象需要接受治疗。由于本研究中大多数家长缺乏预防正畸知识，建议实施口腔健康促进计划，提高该地区对错颌畸形的认识。
