Prevalence of malocclusions in school children aged 6 and 12 from the Biblián canton. Ecuador

Abstract

Objective: To determine the malocclusion prevalence in 6 and 12-year-old schoolchildren from Héroes de Verdeloma and Daniel Muñoz Schools in Biblián, during the 2018 period. Materials and methods: An observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out and applied to a sample of 281 schoolchildren aged 6 and 12 years. One hundred and sixty five(165) participants were male, and 116 were female. They were clinically evaluated by using Angle’s classification to determine their molar relation. Results: The results evidenced a malocclusion prevalence of 49,8% whereas 50,2% presented normocclusion, or bilateral Angle’s Class I molar relation. Concerning age,  20.7% prevalence of malocclusion was shown in 6-year-old schoolchildren, against 29,1% in 12 year-olds. The last ones were the most affected, with a statistical significance between age and malocclusions (p=0,005). As regards sex, males presented 28.9% of malocclusion while females showed 21,2% prevalence. According to their origin, schoolchildren from rural areas had higher malocclusions prevalence than those from the urban areas. As for the molar class, the molar class I ratio was the most prevalent, followed by molar class III. Conclusions: The study revealed that half of the studied population had some level of malocclusion, 12-year-olds, males, and rural schoolchildren were the most affected. The most prevalent was Angle class I, followed by Angle class III.