Early approach to transverse malocclusions: diagnosis and treatment. Critical review of the literature

Abstract

Foundations: The study of transverse malocclusions has evidenced important and necessary knowledge for the care of the population with these dental alterations and has also provided useful and necessary information for the implementation of what has been evidenced in the development of dental practice. Objective:  The objective was to describe the quality of the report of the studies related to the early approach of transverse malocclusions: diagnosis and treatment. Methods: Type of descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 21 reference articles from the early approach study of transverse malocclusions published by Padilla et al. 2009, which were evaluated using the STROBE Declaration guide, considering its recommended indicators. Descriptive statistics were applied calculating absolute and relative frequencies. Results: When evaluating the presentation in terms of methods, it was observed that there are important limitations and weaknesses related to all sections, with greater depth in the study design and statistical methods because 100% do not comply with the recommendations, not a single study explains how key elements of the study design were presented, how missing data were addressed, nor does it describe analytical methods that take into account the sampling strategy where appropriate, nor does it describe sensitivity analyzes where appropriate. Likewise, in the methods section, a minority of them partially complied with the STROBE recommendations in this aspect, ranging from 30.7% to 38.4% of the total articles. Conclusions: It is concluded that the publications studied show low compliance with the recommendations of the STROBE and CONSORT declarations.