Malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need of secondary school students in Nigeria according to the dental aesthetic index (DAI)

The aims of this study were to measure the distribution, prevalence and the severity of malocclusion and treatment need amongst randomly selected (n=7 03) rural and urban Nigerian children aged 12-18 years (mean 14.0+/-1.84) u sing the dental aesthetic index (DAI), and to assess whether malocclusion w as affected by age, gender and socio-economic background. Data were collect ed according to the method recommended by WHO. Most of the children (77.4 p er cent) had a dental appearance which required no orthodontic treatment. O ver 13 per cent fell into the group where treatment for malocclusion is con sidered to be 'elective'. However, a substantial proportion (9.2 per cent) of the population had severe to handicapping malocclusion where treatment i s 'highly desirable' or 'mandatory'. There were no statistically significan t differences (P>0.05) in DAI scores between age groups, gender and socio-e conomic background. This study also found that Nigerian adolescents had bet ter dental appearance and less orthodontic treatment need compared with the Caucasian and Oriental populations.