Malocclusion, peer relations and bullying among school children Andrew Dibiase
Can a malocclusion cause bullying?
Join me for a summary exploring bullying and its relationship with malocclusion, with a contemporary review of evidence showing the psychological effects various malocclusions can cause young people. This podcast is a summary of Andrew DiBiase’s lecture last year at the British Orthodontic Conference. Andrew’s research explores what factors moderate bullying, and what factors can be protective against bullying.
Introduction
- Nearly 1 in 3 patients report teasing or fear of teasing as a motivating factor for orthodontic treatment Bauss 2023 AJODO
- 1 in 7 patients attending our clinics are bullied Seehra et al., 2011
- Most upsetting feature of bullying teeth 60.7% Shaw
- 13, 387 teenagers 25% report bullying
- Around 7% related to teeth
Definition of bullying: Olweus 1984
- Unprovoked and sustained campaign of aggression, towards someone in order to hurt them
- Student exposed repeatedly to negative action on the part of one or more students
- Harm, imbalance of power, organised, repetitive, harm experienced
Who gets bullied and how?
- Younger more – 10 year olds 22%, 15 year olds 7%
- Girls are greater than boys by 5%
- Boys low athletic competence
- Judged on homour as well Langlois 2000
- Girls appearance
- We do judge girls on physical appearance Langlois 2000
- 80% verbal – Cyber bullying – doest stop at the school gate
Consequences of bullying
- Short term and long term effects
- Poorer academic performance
- Crime
- Self harm
- 26% within young population and teeth occupying the reason in 1 in 5 young people Bitor 2022 AJODO
- Low self esteem
- Structural changes, medulla – related to fear (peer victimisation and its impact on adolescent brain)
What features are more likely to result in bullying Dibiase, Jad Seehra 2014
- Greater rate of bullying
- 2 div 1: 18%
- Increased overjet 16% Tristão SR 2020
- Deep overbite
- Missing teeth, anterior spacing
- IOTN AC 9 and 10
- Regression – younger worse
- Low athletic competence p 0.019
Conclusions
- Relationship between bullying and severe malocclusion
- Schoolchildren who report being bothered by their teeth report being lonelier at school and lower self-esteem
- Malocclusion has a greater impact on females than males
- Malocclusion and peer relations is moderated by self-esteem in girls, but not boys
- Good peer relations protect against the negative impact of malocclusion in girls with low or average self-esteem
