Resumo

SEREBE, C; HARRIS, A  e  KIMMIE-DHANSAY, F. The orthodontic treatment needs in children aged 12-15 years in a school in Khomas, Namibia: A cross-sectional study. S. Afr. dent. j. [online]. 2024, vol.79, n.7, pp.360-366. ISSN 0375-1562.  https://doi.org/10.17159/sadj.v79i06.18346.

The aim of this study was to determine the orthodontic treatment needs of a population of 12-15 year old school children and to express it as percentages of those subjective and objective orthodontic treatment need over the whole sample population. There has been a disagreement between normative and subjective need for orthodontic treatment. This is especially true in an African setting. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the orthodontic treatment needs of a population of 12-15-year-old children attending a school in Khomas, Namibia. The Modified Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN), using the Dental Health Component (DHC) and the Aesthetic Component (AC), was used to determine the normative and subjective need for orthodontic treatment respectively. One hundred and two participants were examined, of which 36.2% were males and 63.7 % were female. The normative need as measured by the DHC was 59.8%. The subjective need was 17.7% and 31.4% as measured by the Child-rated AC (CRAC) and Examiner-rated AC (ERAC) respectively. There were no significant associations between Orthodontic treatment need and gender or age. Although there was a minimal subjective need for orthodontic treatment, there was a relatively high normative need for orthodontic treatment recorded by the researcher. The association between DHC and CRAC revealed that 88.8% of the children shown to have normative need also perceived need according to the CRAC. Of the 70 children with no need for treatment according to Examiner, 91.4% of the children agreed. In assessing orthodontic treatment need, the normative need was higher than the perceived need. This discrepancy could be due to the IOTN tool not being Afrocentric and thus overestimating the treatment needs of children. The expert's objective assessment may not always agree with the child's perception of the problem, especially in an African setting.

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