Psychosocial impact of malocclusion in Spanish adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychosocial impact of malocclusion, determine its relationship with the severity of malocclusion, and assess the influence of gender and social class on this relationship in adolescents. METHODS: A random sample of 627 Spanish adolescents aged 12 - 15 years underwent intraoral examinations by 3 calibrated examiners (intraexaminer and interexaminer kappa > 0.85) at their schools. Psychosocial impact was measured through a self-rated Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ). The severity of malocclusion was measured by the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Gender and social class were also recorded. RESULTS: The total PIDAQ score and those of its 4 subscales, social impact, psychological impact, aesthetic concern, and dental self-confidence, presented significant differences (p ≤ 0.05 by analysis of variance) and linear relationships with the IOTN grades (p ≤ 0.05 by linear regression). Stepwise linear regression models showed that the IOTN dental health component was a predictive variable of the total and subscale PIDAQ scores. Neither gender nor social class was an independent predictive variable of this relationship, except the linear model for psychological impact, where gender was a predictive variable. The occlusal conditions responsible for higher PIDAQ scores were increased overjet, impeded eruption, tooth displacement, and increased overbite. CONCLUSIONS: Malocclusion has a psychological impact in adolescents and this impact increases with the severity of malocclusion. Social class may not influence this association, but the psychological impact seems to be greater among girls.