OBJECTIVES: To investigate Nigerian children's and their parents' satisfaction with the children's facial and dental appearances and their desire for orthodontic treatment, and to compare their assessments of treatment need with those determined by an orthodontist. METHODS: The subjects were 242 11-14 year-old schoolchildren randomly selected from private and public schools in the Ife Central Local Government area, Nigeria. A questionnaire was used to obtain information from the children and their parents of their liking of the facial and dental appearances of the children and the need and desire for orthodontic treatment. The children, the parents and an orthodontist used the Aesthetic Component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) to assess the need for treatment. RESULTS: More parents liked their child's facial and dental appearances than the children liked themselves. Almost twice as many schoolchildren thought they needed (27 per cent) and desired (29 per cent) orthodontic treatment than their parents (115 per cent). Low, but statistically significant correlations, were found between the children's, their parents' and an orthodontist's assessments of treatment need using the AC scale. Only 8 per cent of the children and 3 per cent of the parents considered that there was a 'moderate-definite' need of treatment. The orthodontist considered 38 per cent of the children had a 'moderate-definite' need of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The children's responses suggest greater concern about their facial and dental appearances, a greater perception of the need for orthodontic treatment and greater desire for treatment than their parents. These findings require further investigation as previous studies have reported that parents are usually more motivated for orthodontic treatment than their children.