A national survey on perception of malocclusion among Iraq 13 year olds

Abstract EN

Six governorates (cities and environs) were selected to cover the whole country geographically (Baghdad the capital, Ninevah, Basrah, Diyala, Anbar and Najaf).

The sample included 6957 students aged 13 years with no history of orthodontic treatment.

A questionnaire was used to determine the perception of occlusion.

Thirty percent of the students reported that they had malaligned teeth, being significantly more in female and urban students and more in Baghdad and Ninevah.

The most prevalent reported type of malaligned teeth was crowded teeth followed by protruded teeth, rotated and displaced teeth, and spaced teeth.

Of the students who stated that they have malaligned teeth, 65.6 % thought that it affected their appearance, 6.8 % affected chewing, and 7.7 % affected speech, while 20.6 % answered that malaligned teeth did not affect appearance, chewing or speech.

The most common reasons for not seeking orthodontic treatment were that the students thought that treatment is not important (22.6 %), fear of pain (20.4 %), fear of tooth extraction (12.4 %), and treatment is not possible (8.9 %).