Abstract
This study assessed the prevalence of orthodontic treatment needs and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in 12–18-year-old adolescents and explored the association between OHRQoL and treatment needs, gender, education level and family income. A total of 243 participants with no prior history of orthodontic treatment were included in this cross-sectional study utilizing a standardized self-explanatory questionnaire and clinical examination. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part included the participants’ demographics (age, gender, education level, economic status) and the second part contained the Arabic version of the oral health impact profile (OHIP)-14, which consists of 14 questions to assess the impact of the severity of malocclusion on routine activities. The clinical examination involved the dental health component (DHC) index of orthodontic treatment needs (IOTN). The outcome of the study showed that 46% of participants had little or no treatment needs, followed by 23.5% with borderline needs, and 30.5% with severe needs. Female participants had higher mean OHIP-14 scores (10.94 ± 8.17) compared to their male counterparts (8.44 ± 7.15), and the difference in the mean scores was significant (
p
= 0.015). The educational level did not significantly influence the mean OHIP-14 scores (
p
= 0.723), whereas the family income correlated negatively with the mean OHIP-14 scores. Participants with less family income had higher mean OHIP-14 scores (11.53 ± 8.67) compared to participants with high (8.22 ± 6.71) and average family income (10.68 ± 8.30). The mean OHIP-14 scores between the family income groups were statistically significant (
p
= 0.036). The overall OHIP-14 score of the participants was 9.67 ± 7.75. The need for orthodontic treatment is crucial among adolescents. It is recommended to have regular orthodontic consultations for adolescents and prompt referral for treatment to improve the OHRQoL.