Orthodontic treatment need of children and adolescents with special healthcare needs resident in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES

This study determined differences in the orthodontic treatment need of children and adolescents with and without special healthcare needs (SHCN) resident in Ile-Ife.

METHODS

Participants were children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years with and without SHCN recruited from regular and special schools in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, respectively. SHCN were categorised as hearing impairment (HI), visual impairment (VI), physical impairment (PI) or intellectual disability (ID). The orthodontic treatment need was determined using the aesthetic component (AC) and dental health component (DHC) of the index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN) and the dental aesthetic index (DAI). Chi-squared tests were used to determine differences in orthodontic treatment need; one-way analysis of variance was used to compare participants' mean DAI scores. Statistical significance was inferred at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

The data of 164 participants with SHCN and 208 participants without SHCN were analysed. Significantly more children and adolescents with SHCN than those without SHCN had great need for treatment on the AC (15.2% vs. 4.3%; p<0.001) and the DHC (28.0% vs. 18.3%; p = 0.005) of IOTN and mandatory need for treatment using the DAI (28.0% vs. 12.0%; p < 0.001). The orthodontic treatment need of participants with intellectual disability, visual impairments and multiple SHCN differed significantly from the control group, those with intellectual disability also had greater need for orthodontic treatment compared with those with physical and hearing impairments (p < 0.05)

CONCLUSION

Children and adolescents with SHCN, resident in Ile-Ife, are at greater risk of having malocclusion traits that require orthodontic treatment when compared with their peers without SHCN, especially those with intellectual disability.