Sense of coherence and its relation to self perceived dental appearance and normative orthodontic treatment need among 12-year-old children.

Background: Sense of Coherence (SOC) is a psychological aspect that could have a significant effect on an individual's perception of aesthetics. Aim: To assess the influence of Sense of Coherence on self-perceived dental appearance against normative orthodontic treatment need among 12 year old children. Methods: An observational study was conducted among 268 school children aged 12 years old from in and around Hyderabad city to assess individuals' Sense of Coherence (SOC-13), self-perceived aesthetics (Oral Aesthetic Subjective Impact Scale - 5 item) and malocclusion using Dental Aesthetic Index. Frequency distributions were used to describe the responses item wise for SOC and OASIS questionnaire. The difference between mean SOC scores between the groups was assessed using ANOVA. Multiple linear regression was performed to assess the affect of gender and OASIS on SOC. Results: Nearly half of the sample (48.13 %) demonstrated higher Sense of Coherence and 58.96 % of individuals had positive perception of aesthetics. Remarkable percentage (78.73 %) of children had normative orthodontic treatment need. Highest mean SOC score (60.70 ± 9.78) was noted for those without orthodontic treatment need and negative aesthetic perception (p = 0.40). Self perceived dental aesthetics revealed a negative correlation with SOC (r = -0.02; p = 0.72). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that SOC could be predicted only by gender (p = 0.01) but not self perceived aesthetics (p = 0.27). Conclusion: In this study, Sense of Coherence did not influence the self perceived aesthetics irrespective of normative need.