Awareness of malocclusion and attitude towards orthodontic treatment among trainee dental surgery technicians in Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: Malocclusion affects aesthetics, the physical, psychological and social life of a person. The aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness of malocclusion and attitude towards orthodontic treatment among trainee dental surgery technicians in Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among 68 final year (sixty-eight) trainee dental surgery technicians in Nigeria. The research instrument was a self-administered close ended questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. P value (P<0.05) was regarded as significant.

Results: Sixty-one (89.7%) of the respondents were females, while 7 (10.3%) were males. Fifty-seven (83.8%) have heard of the term malalignment of teeth, 53 (77.9%) of the students think malalignment is due to external habits. 61 (89.7%) are aware that few teeth may have to be removed for proper positioning of irregular teeth and 51 (75.0%) were aware that the irregular teeth can be corrected even after 40 years of age. More females were aware of malocclusion and had positive attitude towards orthodontic procedures when compared to the males, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Majority of the respondents in this study were aware of the term malalignment and had positive attitude towards orthodontic treatment. More females constituted the study population.