Orthodontic treatment need of Kurdish teenagers

Abstract EN

Background : This oral health survey aimed to determine the orthodontic treatment need in Sulaimania governorate in relation to gender and residency.

Subjects and methods : The sample consisted of 998 Kurdish intermediate school students aged 13 years collected from Sulaimania city and five surrounding small villages.

A clinical examination was used to determine the orthodontic treatment need according to the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI).

Results : The registered DAI scores ranged between 13 and 65 with a mean of 25.43, according to these scores, 58.6 % of the sample were found to have no or slight treatment need, 18.5 % with treatment elective, 12.5 % with treatment highly desirable, and 10.3 % with very severe (handicapping) malocclusion and treatment mandatory.

Highly desirable or mandatory treatment need (DAI ≥ 31) was found similarly in males (23.2 %) and females (22.6 %), but noticeably more in rural (25.1 %) than in urban (20.6 %).

Conclusions : The prevalence of malocclusion in Kurds is similar to that of Arabs.