Prevalence of malocclusion and its relationship to dental caries among young individuals aged 14-20 years.

Objectives: 1) To assess and record the prevalence of malalignment of dentition in young individuals with ages ranging from 14-20 years.


2) The relationship of the development of "dental caries" as a result of this malocclusion of teeth in these individuals.


Methods:
A cross sectional study was conducted in two of the institutes in Rawalpindi ,used as a part of our research project.This study group included about 100 students aged 14-20 years .The survey was conducted in two colleges i.e “Global College Rawalpindi” and “Aslam Foundation Rawalpindi” during the year 2014.The oral health status of the young students involved in this study group was evaluated with the help of various indices and then these values were later recorded and analysed to prove this research.
Results: “Malocclusion” is the imperfect positioning of the teeth when the maxillary and the mandibular jaws are brought into close contact with each other.It is the most prevalent problems affecting our population and it is directly related to the development of “dental caries” among young individuals.
The study indicated clear- cut "results" which showed that about 70-80 percent of these individuals were having dental caries associated with malocclusion while the remaining 5-10 percent were having no signs of carious teeth since their malocclusion was not so severe.However about 10 percent of these individuals were undergoing treatment for the malalignment of teeth.

Conclusions:
"Malocclusion" is the most prevalent cause of "dental caries" and therefore its treatment should be started at an early age as soon as possible .This occurs due to the fact that whenever the dentition are malaligned,crowded,impacted etc , these may ultimately lead to food impaction,poor aesthetics , loss of physiological form and function and inadequate access to oral hygeine measure.This compromised oral health status is the "major" factor in development of dental caries in these young individuals.