Prevalence of malocclusion among Latino adolescents

Although numerous studies have documented malocclusion in various ethnic gr oups in the United States, the prevalence of malocclusion in the Latino pop ulation is not well known. The Latino population may be the largest minorit y group in the United States by the year 2004. This study analyzes the occl usion of 507 Latino adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years. More t han 93% of the subjects demonstrated some form of malocclusion. The distrib ution of malocclusion patterns is presented and contrasted with data publis hed for other ethnic groups. Information about the prevalence and types of malocclusion in the Latino population should be of interest to general dent al practitioners and specialists.