Objective: This study was carried out to know the level of awareness regarding orthodontic procedures among preadolescents as there is very high prevalence of malocclusion.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 1010 subjects with a mean age of (in years) was 13.02 ± 2.146. A self-administered structured questionnaire proforma was used. Pilot study was done to validate the questionnaire, which was constituted of nine items. The Student's t-test and ANOVA test along with stepwise multiple linear regression were applied for the statistical evaluation of means. The level of significance was set at 0.05.
Results: The overall awareness of orthodontist among the school going children was 45.1%. The knowledge of orthodontic procedures was significantly higher among girls (4.46 ± 1.671) when compared to boys (4.00 ± 1.489). When the results were compared according to the area of location most of the students in the urban areas gave a positive response regarding awareness when compared to children in the rural community.
Conclusion: This group of preadolescents showed moderate level of awareness regarding orthodontic procedures as they mentioned that it helps in esthetics, better oral hygiene, mastication, and healthy lifestyle.
Keywords: Awareness; malocclusion; orthodontic treatment; preadolescents.