Prevalence of lower incisor crowding in Pakistani population using Little’s Irregularity Index

Abstract

Introduction: Lower anterior dental irregularity has an important impact on prognosis, treatment planning and retention of orthodontic cases. As malocclusion is considered to be a public health problem, prevalence of dental anomalies, need and demand of orthodontic treatment should be asserted within a given community. Hence this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of lower incisor irregularity in a sample of Pakistani population; it’s correlation with ALD and skeletal pattern.

Material and Methods: A group of 100 patients with age range of 12 - 26 years were randomly selected from Orthodontic department, Margalla Collage of Dentistry, Margalla Institute of Health Sciences, Rawalpindi. To determine lower incisor irregularity, Little’s Irregularity method was used as described by Little in his index.

Results: Lower incisor irregularity can affect any type of skeletal pattern. Little’s index score was calculated for each patient to evaluate incisor irregularity (Mean 4.835, SD 4.387). Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between Little’s score and ALD (-0.585), and between Little’s score and ANB (+0.013) as representation of skeletal pattern.

Conclusions: According to the results, there appears to be a strong correlation between incisor irregularity and tooth size-arch length discrepancy.