Dental student’s perception to Aesthetic Component of IOTN and demand for orthodontic treatment

Abstract

Background: The aims of orthodontic treatment are to achieve the best interdigitation in centric occlusion in relation with good facial aesthetic and to get a pleasant dento-facial looked with good function as well. Nowadays, people who are seeking orthodontic treatment to fulfill those need come to orthodontist, mostly for aesthetic reason, for good teeth arrangement that will be more aesthetically favorable. However, not all people with malocclusion seek the orthodontic treatment due to the fact, they do not realize that they have orthodontic problem. On the other hand, some other feel they need orthodontic treatment but they can not afford it. Purpose: To determine the knowledge of malocclusion and demand for orthodontic treatment in related to Aesthetic Component (AC) IOTN. Methods: The samples were 107 college students of Faculty of Dentistry Airlangga University divided into two as 1 st and 7 th semester group. Both of the groups were given questionnaire about their knowledge of malocclusion and demand of orthodontic treatment. Then, they were asked to examine themselves using AC IOTN, then researcher and orthodontist examine them. results: There was a significant difference on knowledge of malocclusion between both groups, no significant difference on demand of orthodontic treatment between both groups, and no correlation between demand and AC IOTN in both groups. There was a significant difference in AC IOTN score examined by respondent, researcher and orthodontist. Conclusion: Knowledge of malocclusion was not the only factor that determines demand of orthodontic treatment.