Abstract Satisfaction with dental aesthetics is a subjective indicator used in epidemiological studies and is related to health behaviours. Little is known about the factors that influence this indicator, particularly among adolescents who live in a situation of social vulnerability. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between malocclusion and dental appearance in underprivileged Brazilian adolescents. This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in Piracicaba, Brazil, and evaluated 884 adolescents from 13 to 19 years of age. The dependent variable was satisfaction with dental appearance, and the independent variables were classified as individual (components of the Dental Aesthetic Index - DAI, sex and age) and contextual (social exclusion index). For statistical analysis, multilevel regression models were estimated. The individual variables were considered Level 1, and the contextual variable was considered Level 2, with a level of significance of 5%. The mean age of the adolescents was 15.3 years. Female adolescents more frequently affirmed that they were satisfied with their dental appearance than did male individuals. There was an increase in dissatisfaction with oral health with the increase in anterior maxillary overjet, midline diastema, larger anterior irregularity in the maxilla, larger anterior irregularity in the mandible, anterior open bite and antero-posterior molar relation. Satisfaction with dental appearance was associated with individual factors such as sex and DAI components.

AIM: To verify the presence of Bolton anterior and total discrepancy in Brazilian individuals with natural normal occlusion and Angle's Class I and Class II, division 1 malocclusions. METHODS: The sample was divided in three groups (n=35 each): natural normal occlusion; Class I malocclusion; Class II, division 1 malocclusion. Of the 105 Caucasian Brazilian individuals, 24 were boys and 81 were girls aged from 13 to 17 years and 4 months. The mesiodistal width of the maxillary and mandibular teeth, from the left first molar to the right first molar, was measured on each pre-treatment dental plaster cast using a digital caliper accurate to 0.01 mm resolution. Values were tabulated and the Bolton ratio was applied. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to verify if data were normally distributed (p>0.2). For comparison between the values obtained and those from the Bolton standard, Student's t test was used and one-way ANOVA was used for comparisons among the 3 groups, with a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). RESULTS: For groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively, the total ratio found was 90.36% (SD 1.70), 91.17% (SD±2.58) and 90.76% (SD±2.45); and the anterior ratio was 77.73% (SD 2.39), 78.01% (SD 2.66) and 77.30% (SD 2.65). CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference among the groups regarding the values indicated in the Bolton ratio.