Malocclusion severity and its associations with oral health-related quality of life in an adult population

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate malocclusion severity and its associations with oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among middle-aged adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study material consisted of 1786 subjects from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 who attended dental and oral examination as part of the 46-year-old follow-up study. Malocclusion severity was assessed using the Dental Health Component (DHC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and the Peer Assessment Rating index (PAR) from digital 3D dental models. Participants also answered a questionnaire including the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and a question on their satisfaction with occlusal function. Differences between malocclusion severity groups were evaluated for both genders separately. For adjusted models, multivariate Poisson regression models were conducted. RESULTS: In this study population, 31.3% had great or very great orthodontic treatment need according to DHC and the mean PAR total score was 22.05. The most severe malocclusions were associated with OHRQoL, especially the psychosocial and handicap dimensions, and satisfaction with occlusal function. There was a significant difference between genders, men having more severe malocclusion but women reporting more OHRQoL impacts. CONCLUSION: One third of the study population were considered to have severe malocclusion. There was an association between malocclusion severity and OHRQoL in adult population, particularly in women.