European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

: A pleasant smile not only increases the face value but is also important for improving the quality of life of a person in a variety of spheres. Facial appearance has a long lasting implication on an individual. An unacceptable dental appearance has often been associated with a negative effect on self-image, career advancement and peer-group acceptance. The third most frequent oral disorders, alongside tooth decay and periodontal disease, are dental malocclusions. To confer a treatment plan and to work out on the treatment needs of a community group, it is obligatory to know the trends of occurrence of various malocclusions. With this background the study was planned to determine the prevalence and various preventive and treatment procedures of malocclusion in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 2151 subjects in Aurangabad district, being the capital of Marathwada region by Rural Health Training Center, Paithan under Govt. Medical College, Aurangabad. The standard pro-forma was designed and house to house survey was conducted over a period of 3 months i.e. from June to August 2021. Mouth mirrors, caries explorers and periodontal probes were used for oral examination with proper aseptic precautions. All the findings were recorded in the data sheet after thorough examination. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were applied using SPSS-17 version. Results: In the present study, prevalence of malocclusion was found to be 28.4%. Epidemiological studies on malocclusion not only help in orthodontic treatment needs and evaluation of dental health services but also offer a valid research tool for assessing distinct environmental and genetic factors in the aetiology of malocclusion. Conclusion: Drastic efforts are being taken by developing countries like India to eradicate many medical and dental diseases. Extensive multi centric studies are required to obtain a countrywide representative data.