Patient reporting for anterior tooth alignment during ugly Duckling stage - A mishap

Abstract

Ugly duckling stage is a self-correcting anomaly seen during the mixed dentition period. It is characterised by the spacing between the upper incisors and proclination of teeth. It is seen that during this stage, parents take their child to the dentist to correct the malaligned teeth due to unawareness. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of pediatric dental patients reporting for tooth alignment during the ugly duckling stage. This retrospective cross-sectional study included patients who reported to saveetha dental college during June 2019 - March 2020. Case records of about 10,000 patients were reviewed and 3363 patients were recruited under 8 to 13 years of age. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 20.0. About 50.8% of patients who belonged to the age of 10 years reported for tooth alignment during an ugly duckling stage. Results were statistically significant for the association between age and chief complaint of anterior tooth alignment (p<0.05). Thus, the role of the dentists lies in making the parents aware that the ugly duckling stage is a self-correcting phenomenon and no orthodontic correction is required during this stage.