Investigators at Saarland University Detail Findings in Malocclusion (Frequency and Severity of Malocclusions In Patients With Statutory Health Insurance In a German Orthodontic Practice In North Rhine Westphalia – a Multi-part Cross-sectional …): Dental Diseases and Conditions – Malocclusion

2024 JAN 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on Dental Diseases and Conditions - Malocclusion are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting out of Homburg, Germany, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Since 2002, patients with statutory health insurance in Germany must undergo an assessment of orthodontic treatment need using the ‘Kieferorthopadische Indikationsguppen’ (KIG; orthodontic indication groups) classification system. According to this system, tooth and jaw misalignment are divided into 11 subgroups and five grades.”

Financial support for this research came from Universittsklinikum des Saarlandes und Medizinische Fakultt der Universitt des Saarlandes (8981).

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Saarland University, “The objectives of this study were to determine the distribution of KIG classifications in patients with statutory insurance of a German orthodontic practice (North Rhine, Germany) and to analyze changes over a 20-year period. Since the introduction of the KIG index in 2002, 4940 statutorily insured patients over a 20-year period (2330 m, 2610 f, min 3.2, max 49.5 years, peak between 10 and 12 years) were classified at their first appointment. According to the valid guidelines of the statutory health insurance (GKV), the division was made into the highest possible KIG classification. Multiple entries were thus not made. In accordance with the operating cycles of the practice, the progression was divided into four 5-year periods. Over a 20-year period, 24.98% of the patients were assigned to the classification ‘D’. 86.52% of the patients were among the 6 most frequently (‘D’, ‘E’, ‘K’, ‘S’, ‘P’ and ‘M’, > 10% each) and only 13.49% among the 5 least frequently recorded classifications (‘U’, ‘B’, ‘T’, ‘O’ and ‘A’, < 5% each). The distribution of the 6 most frequent and the 5 least frequent KIG classifications was constant over a 20-year-period.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Among all possible tooth and jaw misalignment variants, the sagittal classifications ‘D’ and ‘M’ represent the most frequent malocclusions.Clinical relevance The results and their comparison with historical data show that both frequency and severity of tooth and jaw misalignment with orthodontic treatment need appear identical for patients with statutory health insurance over a 20-year period.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Frequency and Severity of Malocclusions In Patients With Statutory Health Insurance In a German Orthodontic Practice In North Rhine Westphalia - a Multi-part Cross-sectional Study Over a 20-year Period. Clinical Oral Investigations, 2023. Clinical Oral Investigations can be contacted at: Springer Heidelberg, Tiergartenstrasse 17, D-69121 Heidelberg, Germany. (Springer - www.springer.com; Clinical Oral Investigations - http://www.springerlink.com/content/1432-6981/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Joerg Alexander Lisson, Saarland University, Dept. of Orthodontics, Homburg, Saar, Germany. Additional authors for this research include Gero Stefan Michael Kinzinger, Jan Hourfar and Andrijana Maletic.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-05368-6. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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