The prevalence of clinically meaningful malocclusion among US adults

Objective The primary purpose of this study was to statistically evaluate age, ethnic and sex differences in the prevalence of clinically meaningful malocclusions among adults. Setting and Sample Population A random sample of 8804 untreated US adults between 17 and 46 years of age was selected from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Materials & Methods Three ethnic (non‐Hispanic White, non‐Hispanic Black and Mexican Americans) and three age (17‐26, 27‐36 and 37‐46 years) groups were evaluated. Subjects with and without clinically meaningful malocclusions were categorized based on the established cut‐off values. Chi‐square analyses were performed to determine differences in prevalence. Results The prevalence of clinically meaningful mandibular incisor irregularity, overjet and overbite increased significantly (P