Orthodontic treatment complexity, outcome and need among school age patients of Lithuanian university of health sciences clinic of orthodontics.

AIM OF THE WORK: It has not been any well-documented study describing the prevalence of orthodontic anomalies between school-age children seeking orthodontic treatment at LUHS (Lithuanian university of health sciences) clinic of Orthodontics. Our aim was to assess the prevalence of orthodontic problems and to determine orthodontic treatment need, complexity and outcome for school-age patients who were treated at LUHS clinic of Orthodontics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our study sample consists of 336 scholars 6-19 years old who were treated at LUHS clinic of orthodontics from 2013 to 2018. ICON index is used to determine the complexity, outcome and need of orthodontic treatment. Statistical analysis is performed using the statistical software package IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0. Quantitative variable distribution is assessed visually and by using the Shapiro-Wilk test. RESULTS: The estimated need for orthodontic treatment is 56.3 percent among patients. The need of treatment for 6-10 year old group is significantly higher than for 11-14 and 15-19 groups (69.0, 52.3 and 51.2 percent). In the group of 11-14 year olds the need of treatment between boys and girls differs significantly (63.1 percent in boy group, 43.8 percent in girl group). Moreover in the 11-14 year old group, the complexity of treatment "easy" is more frequent than in the 6-10 group. CONCLUSIONS: The need of orthodontic treatment is 56.3 percent among subjects treated in LUHS clinic of orthodontics from 2013 to 2018. In all age groups the complexity of treatment is mostly "easy" or "mild".