Normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need of a Peruvian university population.

Background: Previous studies on orthodontic treatment need in young adults have shown that up to 50% had malocclusions that needed orthodontic treatment. The aims of this study were to assess the normative and self-perceived need for orthodontic treatment using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and to determine if the treatment need levels were influenced by sex, age and socio-economic status (SES) in a sample of Peruvian young adults.
Methods: 281 first-year students (157 male and 124 female students) with a mean age of 18.1 +/- 1.6 years were randomly selected and evaluated through the Dental Health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC) of the IOTN. Structured interview and clinical examination were used to assess the students. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis with statistical significance set at P < 0.05.
Results: An intra-examiner reliability of 0.89 was obtained (weighted Kappa). The percentage of students according to SES was 51.2%, 40.6% and 8.2% corresponding to low, medium and high SES respectively. The percentage of students with DHC grades 4-5 was 29.9% whereas the percentage of students with AC grades 8-10 was 1.8%. There were no significant differences in the distribution of normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need based on sex, age and SES comparisons.
Conclusion: Normative orthodontic treatment need was not matched by a similar level of self-perceived treatment need in these young adults. Sex, age and SES were non-significant factors associated with levels of treatment need.