Background: Javanese and Malay tribes have different races, head shape, jaw shape, face shape, tooth size, diet, which can cause malocclusion. Research Purpose: This study aims to determine the severity of malocclusion and the level of orthodontic treatment needs in the Javanese and Malay tribes using the Dental Aestetic Index. Research Method: The type of research is an observasional analytic with cross sectional design. this study consist of two group, the Javanese tribe are 62 subjects and the Malay are tribe 62 subjects. The measurement of malocclusion severity in this study using the Dental Aestetics Index which measures malocclusion with 10 components physical measurements. the results can determine orthodontic treatment needs based on severity. Research result: The results showed that the highest severity of malocclusion and the level of orthodontic treatment between the Javanese and Malay tribes is found in the category of mild malocclusion and requiring a little bit orthodontic treatment (49,2 %). The Mann-Whitney U test results obtained value p = 0.002 (p <0.005) shows a significant differences between the severity of malocclusion and the level of orthodontic treatment of the Javanese and Malay tribes. The means value shows that Dental Aestetics Index of Malay tribe higher than the Javanese. Conclusion: There are differences in the severity of malocclusion and the level of orthodontic treatment needs between the Javanese and the Malay tribes using the Dental Aestetic Index, which results in a higher Malay tribe than the Javanese.