Year : 2016

Volume : Volume 6

Issue : Issue 1

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Sanju Somaiah
drsanjusomaiah@yahoo.com

Abstract

Background: For Orthodontic treatment to become an integral part of oral health care programs, basic information on treatment needs is required for a particular population or age group. In this context, epidemiological surveys are of utmost importance for planning, analysing and implementing orthodontic health programmes. Also, this provides information to the orthodontist regarding prevalence and severity of the various malocclusions exhibited by an ethnic group or population. Materials and Method: The sample consisted of 360 school children. They were chosen in order to obtain reliable data concerning the orthodontic treatment need for schoolchildren population of 12 to 16 years of Kodava community through stratified random sampling with in clusters, given that the pupils are clustered in classrooms Results: The results of this study provide information to the orthodontist regarding prevalence, severity and need of orthodontic treatment of the various malocclusions exhibited by schoolchildren population of 12 to 16 years of Kodava community an ethnic group. Conclusion: Our study showed that out of 360 subjects, 38.9% of the subjects exhibited definitive need for orthodontic treatment. The same was true in gender distribution where 19.2% males’ and19.7% females showed the need for orthodontic treatment in the study population.

Keywords: Children, orthodontics, school.