Concern for dental appearance among Norwegian young adults in region with low uptake of orthodontic treatment

Abstract – The purpose of the present study was to examine orthodontic concern among orthodontically untreated young adults living in an area where the relative number of children receiving treatment was only 15–20% and to compare orthodontic concern among these individuals with that of untreated persons from an area with a higher treatment frequency. All the subjects were clinically examined and impressions for dental study casts, radiographs and photographs were taken. The subject's occlusion was classified according to two methods: 1) allocation to one of four groups according to the national Need for Orthodontic Treatment Index (NOTI), and 2) allocation to one of three groups according to presence or absence of six Anterior Occlusal Traits (AOT). Frequencies of NOTI scores demonstrated that in the study group more individuals were in need of treatment relative to the comparison group. Reported concern was at the same level in both groups, and significantly related to NOTI and AOT scores. The individuals in the area with the low treatment frequency were generally less aware of their anterior traits compared to the individuals in the area with a higher treatment frequency. The results indicated that a long-term low uptake of orthodontic treatment among children in the particular area was not accompanied by a similar increase in concern about own dental appearance in early adulthood.