Evaluation of Awareness of the Need for Orthodontic Treatment Across Different Age Groups in Adolescents and Young Adults

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to determine the awareness levels of individuals presenting to an orthodontic clinic regarding their orthodontic treatment needs and to identify the various factors contributing to the development of this awareness, particularly the developmental period.

Methods

A total of 160 participants were divided into four equal age groups (n = 40 each): early adolescence, middle adolescence, late adolescence, and young adults. Participants' subjective awareness of orthodontic treatment need was assessed using questionnaire items, the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need-Aesthetic Component (IOTN-AC), and a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for self-perceived dental aesthetics, while normative treatment need was evaluated by an expert orthodontist using the IOTN, DAI, and ICON. The primary outcome was aesthetic agreement, classified as underestimation, exact concordance, or overestimation according to the participant-minus-researcher raw IOTN-AC score difference. Sensitivity analyses allowed a ±1-point tolerance and included a pooled analysis of the two youngest age groups.