Evaluation of Prevalence and Severity of Malocclusion in South Travancore Population

BACKGROUND: Assess prevalence and severity of malocclus ion in 12 – 16 year old population of Travancore using IOTN index. Tertiary care setting, with the study being conducted in the Dept of Orthodontics at PMS Dental College & the samples being collected from four different dental health care centres. Study design is descriptive study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 120 pre- treatment study models of patients aged 12-16 yrs were collected, 30 each from four dental health centres spread across the state. These casts were subjected to three stages of screening based on IOTN index to arrive at the prevalence and severity of malocclusion in the targeted group. Kappa statistics and stratified kappa statistics. RESULTS: Results of the study showed that the prevalence of malocclusion and treatment need was 53.3%. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of orthodontic treatment need in South Kerala was found to be 53.3%.