Abstract
Abstract Background Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) has become an important measure of orthodontic treatment outcome. However, it is unclear how long OHRQoL benefits manifest themselves following the removal of the orthodontic appliances. Objectives To investigate differences in OHRQoL recorded at the time of orthodontic appliance removal and three months into retention. Setting and sample Described is a prospective outcome study of 59 consecutive participants treated in a hospital-based clinic between 2015 and 2018. The patients comprised three groups: those who received orthognathic surgery (N = 15), those who had an orofacial cleft (N = 30) and those who had no-surgery/no-cleft (N = 14). Each individual completed an age-specific OHRQoL questionnaire that categorised them as either an adolescent (N = 37) or an adult (N = 22) participant. Method The OHRQoL questionnaires were completed at the time of appliance removal (T0) and again three months into retention (T1). The Child Perceptions Questionnaires (CPQ11-14-ISF8 and P-CPQ8) were used for adolescent participants and their parent/caregiver, respectively, while the short-form Oral Health Impact Questionnaire (OHIP-14) was used for the adults. Results The OHIP-14, CPQ11-14-ISF8 and P-CPQ8 detected improvements in overall and domain scores between T0 and T1 for all patient groups. Moderate effect sizes (0.2–0.7) were observed in all the domain, overall and group mean scores. Conclusions Post-treatment orthodontic OHRQoL outcomes improve over the three-month period following appliance removal. The use of these measures should be delayed beyond the immediate time of appliance removal to allow the benefits of orthodontic treatment to be appreciated.
Highlights
A malocclusion is a relatively common condition that can adversely affect a person’s function and psychological well-being.[1]
Additional inclusion criteria were the availability of a completed Impact Short Form (ISF8) of the Child Perception Questionnaires (CPQ11-14-ISF8 and PCPQ-8)[8,11,12] or the OHIP1413 at the time of appliance removal (T0) and at a subsequent follow-up retention check appointment approximately three months post-removal (T1)
Just over half of the sample consisted of patients treated for a cleft (N = 30), with the remaining cohort split between surgery (N = 15) and standard malocclusion cases (N = 14), reflecting the hospital clinic-based priorities for accepting patients for orthodontic treatment (Table I)
Summary
A malocclusion is a relatively common condition that can adversely affect a person’s function and psychological well-being.[1] Most orthodontic patients seek treatment for aesthetic reasons that often have an underlying psychological component.[2] The orofacial region holds importance to individuals because of its role in social acceptance and perceptions of attractiveness, intelligence and overall physical health. The importance of these psychological factors in influencing treatment need and outcome has resulted in a greater focus on self-reporting assessment tools and patient-centred care.[3]. The use of these measures should be delayed beyond the immediate time of appliance removal to allow the benefits of orthodontic treatment to be appreciated. (Aust Orthod J 2020; 36: 20-26)
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