Individual and contextual factors associated with malocclusion in Brazilian children

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between the prevalence of malocclusion in Brazilian 12 years-olds with individual and contextual variables. METHODS: A cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted with data from the Brazilian Oral Health Survey - SBBrazil 2010. The outcome studied was malocclusion, categorized as absent, set, severe and very severe. The independent variables were classified as individual and contextual. Data were analyzed using a multilevel model with a 5% significance level. RESULTS: It was found that the prevalence of severe and very severe malocclusion in 12-year-olds did not differ between the Brazilian regions, although variation between the cities was significant (p < 0.001). Male children (p = 0.033), those on lower income (p = 0.051), those who had visited a dentist (p = 0.009), with lower levels of satisfaction with mouth and teeth (p < 0.001) and embarrassed to smile (p < 0.001) had more severe malocclusion. The characteristics of the cities also affected the severity of malocclusion; cities with more families on social benefits per 1,000 inhabitants, with lower scores on the health care system performance index and lower gross domestic product per capita were significantly associated with malocclusion. CONCLUSION: Significant associations between the presence and severity of malocclusion were observed at the individual and contextual level.