Orthodontic treatment need and occlusal traits in the early mixed dentition among 8-9-year old Saudi children.

Purpose: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of occlusal traits and to evaluate the orthodontic treatment need among children aged 8-9 years in Al Ahsa, Eastern region of Saudi Arabia.

Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 282 Saudi children who were randomly selected from those visiting dental outpatient clinics at the College of dentistry in King Faisal University, AlAhsa. All the children were evaluated using the DHC and AC components of Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Descriptive statistics, chisquare test and Fisher's Exact test were used for data analysis with statistical significance set at p< 0.05.

Results: The most prevalent malocclusal trait was crowding (39.7%) followed by increased overjet (28.4%). About 30.9% and 17% of the children were in definite need for orthodontic treatment according to DHC and AC of IOTN, respectively. There was no statistical difference in the distribution of DHC (p=0.116) and AC (p=0.177) scores between the gender.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated high percentage of malocclusal traits and orthodontic treatment need in the mixed dentition period among 8-9-year-old children in the Eastern region. Emphasis should be placed on early orthodontic screening and treatment in the mixed dentition stage of dental development.