PREVALENCE AND SEVERITY OF MALOCCLUSION IN CHILDREN 13 TO 15 YEARS OF AGE LIVING IN SEOUL

서울시내에 거주하는 13세-15세 청소년들의 부정교합에 관한 역학적 연구

Childrens between the ages of 13 and 15 years, living in Seoul, were examined in order to determine the prevalence and severity of malocclusion in the permanent dentition. This survey encompassed 981 children and an individual chart was prepared for each subject recording an original HMAR score and classification of occlusion according to Angle. Also, subjective evaluation of "treatment needs" was carried out in 581 children. The results were as follows: 1. Of the 981 children in this survey, 12,1 percent showed excellent occlusion. (0 point) 2. The 14 percent of the children who had a score of 24 and above all appeared to belong to the "treatment highly desirable" or "treatment mandatory" category. 3. The incorporation of SAR (Supplementary Assessment Record) into the HMAR can provide more sensitive method for evaluating severity of malocclusion. 4. According to Angle's classification 77.4 percent of all malocclusion belonged to Class I, 1.3 percent to Class II, Division 1, 0.9 percent to Class II, Division 2, and 11.3 percent to Class III. 5. The mean HMAR score for Class I was significantly lower than for either Class II, Division 1 or Class III. (P < 0.05) 6. A close relationship was found between the degree of "treatment needs" and the value obtained by the HMAR scoring. (chi-square test, p < 0.05) The differences between the mean HMAR scores of the various subjectively defined categories were statistically significant. (P < 0.001)