Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the awareness of the dental alignment and the occlusion between children and their parents living in the cities of Nagoya and Fukuoka. Four hundred and seven school boys and girls and 404parents answered the questionnaire.
The results were as follows;
1) The subjects were generally aware of anterior characteristics. For example, about 25% of the children and their parents recognized anterior cowding, and about 2% of the children and their parents were aware of anterior crossbite.
2) The majority of the subjects were indifferent to dental alignment and occlusion.
3) Many parents were concerned about their children's dental alignment and occlusion from the point of view of health.
4) Over 90% of the parents answered that dental caries influenced general health, over 80% of the parents answered that occlusion influenced it while over 60%of the parents answered that the dental alignment influenced it.
5) Almost all of the parents knew the words 'alveolar pyorrhoea', 'periodontitis'and 'orthodontics'. Over 70% of the parents knew the word' occlusion'.
From now on, it is very important to inform to society that the dental alignments and the occlusion influence not only on esthetics but also health.
