ETHNIC DIFFERENCES & CHARACTERISTICS OF DEVELOPING OCCLUSION By Arafa Mohammad Arafa Khatab, BDS, MSc, PhD, Lecturer of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University, Egypt entition and occlusion vary greatly among countries, ethnicities and age groups. The aim of this study was to examine the occlusal characteris-tics and malocclusion prevalence among children who attended two of the Saudi Universities and to compare these populations with other ethnic groups. These results are based on dental examination records for 457 Saudi children aged 3 to 15 years of age obtained from published studies. In terms of the distribution of the primary molar relationship, 64% of patients presented with ‘mesial step,’ 26.8% with ‘flush terminal plan’ and 9.2% with ‘distal step;’ all had primary molars. In terms of the permanent molar relationship, 72.9% of the sample were classified as Class I, 12.2% as Class II and 14.9% as Class III. The majority of the chil-dren in the present study (74.6%) had primary canines classified as D Class I. The prevalence of normal over-jet (1-4 mm) was 19%. Open-bite was 65.9%, but there is normal change in over-bite. Cross-bite was found in 10.1% of the studied children. There is great variation between our results and those reported by other international or even Saudi studies. In our opinion, this can be attributed to differences in patient age, study methodology, sample size and the boundaries of what was classified as “normal.” It is therefore advisable to standard-ize the study design so that accu-rate data regarding malocclusion can be collected. STUDY BACKGROUND Childhood is a mirror that reflects the propensities of adult-hood. Similarly, ideal primary dentition is an indicator of future ideal permanent dentition. A malocclusion refers to the malalignment of teeth and/or the incorrect relationship between the teeth of two dental arches. bite was found in only 13.6% of patients. The prevalence of deep 32 July/August 2011 JAOS
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society July-August 2011-Buyer's Guide: Page 32
