Background and purpose: Malocclusion is the most prevalent dental anomaly that influences the function of affected people. As a common orthodontic index, the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Needs (IOTN) classifies the malocclusions according to occlusal indexes of an individual. This research aimed at evaluating the need for orthodontic treatment in students aged 12-14 years old in Sari using IOTN Index in academic year 2016-2017.
Materials and methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the IOTN was used for 576 students in six different schools. The IOTN index includes two components which are closely related; in current study, only the dental health component (DHC) was assessed. Data analysis was done in SPSS V21 applying Chi-square.
Results: A total of 576 students was studied of whom most (29.2%) were in grade 2, which showed little need for treatment (30% males and 28% females). Only 2.8% were graded as 5 on the IOTN scale meaning serious need for orthodontic treatment. Male and female students were homogeneous in grading distribution and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P< 0.75). The frequency of need for orthodontic treatment was 25.35%.
Conclusion: In this study, most of the individuals showed little need of orthodontic treatment and there was no significant difference between the two groups in grading distribution.
 

Keywords: orthodontics, malocclusion, Index of Treatment Need

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