Orthodontic need of treatment of Swedish schoolchildren from objective and subjective aspects

abstract – Of 5,459 schoolchildren in the town of Umeå, Sweden 26.2 % were regarded as not being in need of orthodontic treatment. As judged according to a four-grade scale the need was objectively little in 29.4 % of the children, moderate in 33.6 % and strong for 10.8 %. Of the children with objective need of treatment, 21.2 % were not interested in orthodontic treatment. In 939 children referred from the district of Västerbotten the need of treatment was little in only 3.2 %, while strong in 52.3 %, and very strong in 6.3 %. Only 47.8 % of the children were interested in orthodontic treatment.