Impact of malocclusion severity on the quality of life of non-white adolescents

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of malocclusion severity on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of non-white adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 585 non-white Brazilian adolescents (12-15 years). The Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) was used for the clinical assessment of mal-occlusion and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) on OHRQoL. Deep bite and transverse oc-clusal relationships were assessed in association with the DAI. The adolescents with DAI 3 and 4 were distributed into 4 groups: G1-individuals without transverse occlusal relationships or deep bite; G2-individuals with only posterior cross-bite; G3-individuals with only deep bite; and G4-individuals with Brodie bite. The backward stepwise procedure was used to select variables on each level, eliminating variables with a p≤0.20. From the logistic regression analyses, the adjust-ed odds ratios were estimated with the respective 95% confidence intervals. The adolescents with severe malocclusion divided into the G2, G3 and G4 showed p-value of 0.0501, 0.1475, and 0.5407, respectively, but did not remain in the final mod-el. Malocclusion severity had no impact on the OHRQoL of non-white adolescents.