December 2010

Objectives To assess the distribution of certain types of occlusal anomalies in a sample of Saudi adolescents aged 13-15 years in Jeddah city. Design: A cross-sectional study. Clinical settings: Clinical examination of Saudi adolescents was carried out in the screening clinics, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdul-Aziz University. Occlusal anomalies were recorded according to Björk and Co-workers (1964). Participants: 1,024 adolescents aged 13-14 years (608 males and 416 females) were randomly selected from ten intermediate schools. Participants were invited to dental school during the “Annual Dental Health Week” as a part of collaborative efforts between King Abdul-Aziz University and Ministry of Education. Main outcome measures: Distribution of post-normal occlusion, pre-normal occlusion, bimaxillary protrusion, overjet, overbite, midline deviation and maxillary and mandibular crowding were calculated for the examined subjects. Results: Only 9% of the examined adolescents had normal occlusion. Post-normal occlusion, pre-normal occlusion and bimaxillary protrusion represented 21%, 15% and 8% of the studied sample respectively. Moderate and severe overjet and overbite accounted for 24% & 5% and 27% & 13%, respectively. Midline deviation was detected in 24% of the students. Mild, moderate and severe maxillary and mandibular crowding represented 9%, 26% & 4% and 11%, 38% & 9%, respectively. All the studied occlusal parameters except bimaxillary protrusion were statistically higher in females. Conclusion: Ninety one percent of the surveyed subjects exhibited some occlusal anomalies. These anomalies were generally higher among adolescent girls. Key words: Adolescents, dental epidemiology, occlusal anomalies