An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness

Introduction: Adolescence is a period of affirmation of certain beliefs, including those related to the perception of one's aesthetics as related to what is perceived to be the standard norm within a community. Certain aspects of clinically ascertained malocclusion by a practitioner may, in fac...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Uday Kumar Digumarthi, Ram Prakash, Hemanth S S Egalapati, Manojna Sanapala
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2023-01-01
Series:Advances in Human Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.aihbonline.com/article.asp?issn=2321-8568;year=2023;volume=13;issue=3;spage=267;epage=270;aulast=Digumarthi
_version_ 1797653472881934336
author Uday Kumar Digumarthi
Ram Prakash
Hemanth S S Egalapati
Manojna Sanapala
author_facet Uday Kumar Digumarthi
Ram Prakash
Hemanth S S Egalapati
Manojna Sanapala
author_sort Uday Kumar Digumarthi
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Adolescence is a period of affirmation of certain beliefs, including those related to the perception of one's aesthetics as related to what is perceived to be the standard norm within a community. Certain aspects of clinically ascertained malocclusion by a practitioner may, in fact, be aspects not considered an issue by the adolescent. Of interest was the evaluation of aesthetic insecurity amongst a group of school-going tribal adolescents with no access to orthodontic treatment and hence no prior history of orthodontic treatments within the community. Materials and Methods: 2016 tribal adolescents belonging to the Revenue divisions of Paderu (Visakhapatnam), in the age group of 13–19 years, with normal growth and development, who had no nutritional deficiencies, metabolic disorders or craniofacial anomalies, were enrolled in this study. Necessary permissions and consent were obtained from the parents or guardians, the school and tribal authorities and the institutional ethical clearance committee. The orthodontic screening was performed under natural daylight in compliance with infection prevention protocol. The students were categorised into those with either ideal occlusion or Angle's Class I, II and III malocclusions. A 'simplified malocclusion index for layperson evaluation' (SMILE) index was verbally assigned in Telugu, the vernacular language, during the orthodontic screening interaction. Aesthetic insecurity noted amongst the responses was subjected to a Chi-square statistical analysis to determine gender bias. Results: Thirty-two per cent of the tribal adolescents screened at Paderu (Visakhapatnam) presented with ideal occlusion and sixty-eight per cent with malocclusion. The verbally assigned SMILE index revealed that 78.24% of the boys and 81.85% of the girls exhibited orthodontic awareness. The percentage distribution of aesthetic insecurity had the boys at 19.04% and the girls at 31.86%. The Chi-square statistical analysis of this data revealed a gender bias (X2 [1, N = 1371] =4.44, P = 0.034). Conclusion: Aesthetic insecurity negatively impacts the perceived oral health-related quality of life. The use of the SMILE index proposed by the authors in this study allows for a candid assessment of any such insecurity and an assessment of orthodontic awareness and perceived treatment needs without the individual feeling coerced. The study results reveal a good level of orthodontic awareness with a statically significant gender bias of aesthetic insecurity.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T16:45:05Z
format Article
id doaj.art-36ac98fe1f2b438badc4a0eebec18bd8
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2321-8568
2348-4691
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T16:45:05Z
publishDate 2023-01-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Advances in Human Biology
spelling doaj.art-36ac98fe1f2b438badc4a0eebec18bd82023-10-23T05:33:47ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsAdvances in Human Biology2321-85682348-46912023-01-0113326727010.4103/aihb.aihb_3_23An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awarenessUday Kumar DigumarthiRam PrakashHemanth S S EgalapatiManojna SanapalaIntroduction: Adolescence is a period of affirmation of certain beliefs, including those related to the perception of one's aesthetics as related to what is perceived to be the standard norm within a community. Certain aspects of clinically ascertained malocclusion by a practitioner may, in fact, be aspects not considered an issue by the adolescent. Of interest was the evaluation of aesthetic insecurity amongst a group of school-going tribal adolescents with no access to orthodontic treatment and hence no prior history of orthodontic treatments within the community. Materials and Methods: 2016 tribal adolescents belonging to the Revenue divisions of Paderu (Visakhapatnam), in the age group of 13–19 years, with normal growth and development, who had no nutritional deficiencies, metabolic disorders or craniofacial anomalies, were enrolled in this study. Necessary permissions and consent were obtained from the parents or guardians, the school and tribal authorities and the institutional ethical clearance committee. The orthodontic screening was performed under natural daylight in compliance with infection prevention protocol. The students were categorised into those with either ideal occlusion or Angle's Class I, II and III malocclusions. A 'simplified malocclusion index for layperson evaluation' (SMILE) index was verbally assigned in Telugu, the vernacular language, during the orthodontic screening interaction. Aesthetic insecurity noted amongst the responses was subjected to a Chi-square statistical analysis to determine gender bias. Results: Thirty-two per cent of the tribal adolescents screened at Paderu (Visakhapatnam) presented with ideal occlusion and sixty-eight per cent with malocclusion. The verbally assigned SMILE index revealed that 78.24% of the boys and 81.85% of the girls exhibited orthodontic awareness. The percentage distribution of aesthetic insecurity had the boys at 19.04% and the girls at 31.86%. The Chi-square statistical analysis of this data revealed a gender bias (X2 [1, N = 1371] =4.44, P = 0.034). Conclusion: Aesthetic insecurity negatively impacts the perceived oral health-related quality of life. The use of the SMILE index proposed by the authors in this study allows for a candid assessment of any such insecurity and an assessment of orthodontic awareness and perceived treatment needs without the individual feeling coerced. The study results reveal a good level of orthodontic awareness with a statically significant gender bias of aesthetic insecurity.http://www.aihbonline.com/article.asp?issn=2321-8568;year=2023;volume=13;issue=3;spage=267;epage=270;aulast=Digumarthiaestheticsmalocclusionsimplified malocclusion index for layperson evaluation index
spellingShingle Uday Kumar Digumarthi
Ram Prakash
Hemanth S S Egalapati
Manojna Sanapala
An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness
Advances in Human Biology
aesthetics
malocclusion
simplified malocclusion index for layperson evaluation index
title An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness
title_full An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness
title_fullStr An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness
title_full_unstemmed An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness
title_short An insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness
title_sort insight into aesthetic insecurity related to malocclusion amongst tribal adolescents and extent of orthodontic awareness
topic aesthetics
malocclusion
simplified malocclusion index for layperson evaluation index
url http://www.aihbonline.com/article.asp?issn=2321-8568;year=2023;volume=13;issue=3;spage=267;epage=270;aulast=Digumarthi
work_keys_str_mv AT udaykumardigumarthi aninsightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness
AT ramprakash aninsightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness
AT hemanthssegalapati aninsightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness
AT manojnasanapala aninsightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness
AT udaykumardigumarthi insightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness
AT ramprakash insightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness
AT hemanthssegalapati insightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness
AT manojnasanapala insightintoaestheticinsecurityrelatedtomalocclusionamongsttribaladolescentsandextentoforthodonticawareness