Acta Médica del Centro (Apr 2016)
Validation of an index to determine the need and priority of orthodontic treatment
Abstract
Introduction: to assess and to measure properly the malocclusion is fundamental in individual orthodontic diagnosis and epidemiological studies to establish priorities and standards of care and to know the prevalence and incidence of occlusal alterations in the population. Objective: to validate an index of malocclusions and orthodontic treatment prioritization to ensure the proper registration of dental occlusion and treatment need and priority. Method: a relational descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2012 to February 2014. By simple random sampling stratified sample of 371 children, among six and 18 years old, representative of the institutionalized population in all settled urban and rural schools; priority rates were applied of orthodontic treatment and dental aesthetic to develop a more rational index and with superior performance. Results: the obtained index was composed of ten variables of the indices in use with significant results which made greater contribution to the diagnosis and they demonstrated qualifying capacity, sensitivity, specificity, validity, predictive value and quality over previous. Conclusions: the developed index guaranteed better the registration of state of dental occlusion and it is more suitable for the identification and prioritization of need for orthodontic treatment.
