Malocculusion pattern among Handicapped children in Ibadan, Nigeria

Objective: There is paucity of information in Nigeria concerning the occlusal characteristics of handicapped children, yet they need functional and aesthetic consideration comparable to that of ‘normal' persons. The aim of this study was to investigate the pattern of malocclusion among the handicapped children in Ibadan, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: An epidemiological survey of 412 handicapped children aged 6 – 18 years, 210 males (51%) and 202 females (49%) was carried out. All the children were examined in their classrooms under natural illumination with the assistance of the class teachers and the information obtained such as Angle's classification 12,13,14, overjet based on jackson's method15, overbite and tooth – bone ratio were entered in a pre-structured data form. Result: From the results, normal occlusion was seen in 13.8% children, Angle's class 1 malocclusion in 55.3%, 21.4% had Angle's class II while Angle's class III was seen in 9.5%. One case of Angle's class II div. 2 was seen. Females had statistically significant higher number of class III malocclusion cases (

A study of Malocculusion in the primary dentition in a population of Nigerian children

Objective: The understanding and prediction of the permanent dentition depends much on the primary set, but there is still paucity information concerning malocclusion in the primary dentition of Nigeria pre- school children. Materials & Method: Five hundred and sixty – three (563) children aged 3 -5 year in Lagos and Ibadan, Nigeria drawn from eight randomly selected pre – primary school were examine Results: Overall, 40.5% of the children were found to have some of malocclusion. Increased overjet was found in 125 of the children wile 1.17% had increased overbite. Anterior open bite accounted for 6.22%. Crossbite recorded in 12.79% (11.90% anteriorly and 0.89% posteriorly). Scissors bite was 8.88% and dental midline deviation 2.67%. Anthropoid spaces (Precanine – 100%, Postcanine – 85.44%) were observed in the children. While about 74.60% had all teeth spaced in the incisor regions, 1.24% had no spacing at all in both arches. Straight terminal plane of the primary second molars was diagnosed in 63.7% of the children, mesial step in 31.7% and distal step occlusion in 4.6% of the children. No significant differences in occlusal patterns were found between boys and girls (P>0.05). KEY WORDS: Malocclusion; Primary dentition; Nigerian children [Nig J Clinical Practice Vol.5(1) 2002: 52-56