ABSTRACT Orthodontic treatment need has been assessed on the basis of complete orthodontic records in a random sample of 293 Danish children aged 13–17 years by a group of postgraduate orthodontic students and by three orthodontists. The estimates of treatment need ranged from 45 % to 61 %. Interexaminer agreement in pairs was observed in 77 %– 92 % (mean 83 %) of the cases. Uniformity in four individual assessments was reached in 69 % of the cases: 38 % were considered in need of treatment and 31 % were considered not to present such need; conversely, 31 % gave rise to disagreement. It is argued that, at present, the orthodontist's subjective estimate of treatment need probably constitutes a more realistic approach to the problem of assigning treatment priority than the various indices of malocclusion.