A study of the etiological factors associated with the development of malocclusion.

The prevalence of malocclusion among 1608 children (777 boys and 831 girls) in the age group of 5-7 years, selected from different schools of varied locations of Delhi was observed as 18.4%. A number of factors that could influence the normal development of occlusion during early mixed dentition stage were recorded. These included spacing in anterior teeth, attrition of primary teeth and deleterious oral habits. The socio-demographic variables included occupation of parents, family size, location type and the school type. The age of the child and sex were also considered. In order to find out the contribution and importance of above mentioned occlusal characteristics and socio-demographic factors in the development of malocclusion, the data were subjected to univariate analysis. Further a stepwise logistic regression analysis was done to know whether any association exists between the occurrence of malocclusion and combination of these factors. Four factors were found to contribute significantly in the occurrence of malocclusion explaining 15.5% variation in case of boys and 22% in case of girls. More significant factors were absence of spacing, effect of habits and lack of attrition of primary teeth. About 80% of the total variation was independent of these factors and could not be explained by this analysis. It further testifies possible predominance of genetic influences in the development of occlusion.