Prevalence of malocclusion in school going children of age 12-15 years in Telangana

Abstract

Health is the functional or metabolic regulation of a living body. In humans, health is an individual capability to conform and adjust to the challenges like socially, mental or physically. Mouth is the window to health of our body. Most of the nutritional deficiencies, systemic diseases, infections etc are manifested first as oral conditions. Good oral health is very important for overall wellbeing of an individual. Malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the two dental arches when the jaws are closed. Malocclusion is the highest public health problem in the world because of its high prevalence. Worldwide data on prevalence of malocclusion has shown that malocclusion is more prevalent in whites than in blacks, then more in females than males and more in developed countries than in developing countries, less in rural population than urban population. A definite geographical and racial variation is seen in southern and northern parts of India. In India class I malocclusion is more prevalent than class II and class III malocclusions. A prior recognition of malocclusion not only aids in intercepting its severity but it also helps in addressing the aesthetics and functional problems.