Perception and awareness of personal dental appearance and profile among dental students comparing Index of orthodontic treatment needs with soft tissue silhouettes

Sharvari Anand Kangarkar,*
Sheetal Suraj Yamyar

Abstract

Objectives:- The purpose of this study was to compare the dental student’s and orthodontist’s perception on the aesthetic component of IOTN and soft tissue profile as well to assess which year student’s perception is closest to orthodontist.Also the association among DHC and AC component of IOTN was assessed by orthodontists. Study design:- The present study was conducted on 400 dental students (I,II,III,IV year ) of CSMSS dental college,aged 18-23 years. The Dental Health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC) were recorded as defined by Brook and Shaw, with slight modification for AC assessment .The soft tissue profile perception was checked using 1 image from among 5 profile silhouettes. Clinical examination was carried out at CSMSS Dental College & Hospital, Aurangabad by the orthodontist. Results:- Unpaired T test showed statistically significant correlation among students and orthodontist perception regarding AC of IOTN and soft tissue profile .Pearson correlation coefficient statistically signficant correlation among DHC and AC of IOTN among I, II and III year but not for final year. ANOVA test was used to find interclass correlation and showed that III and IV year student’s perception were closer to that of orthodontist’s perception. Conclusion:- The results of this study showed that dissatisfaction with personal dental appearance was not related to DHC. Also this study concluded that with progress of the curriculum from I to IV year the knowledge gained by students helped them to develop perception which was closer to that of orthodontists.