Quality of Life Before and After Orthodontic Treatment in Adult Patients with Malocclusion: A Quasi-experimental Study

Abstract

Introduction: In adult patients seeking orthodontic treatment, some common reasons include unesthetic appearance and functional impairment such as difficulty in speaking or breathing. Thus, malocclusion and orthodontic care have become a Quality of Life (QoL) issue. Aim: To investigate the oral health-related quality of life in adults before and after orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in Faculty of Dental Sciences, M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore, India over a 2 year period from December 2014 to October 2016. Finally, 34 patients were included in the study. Longitudinal data which included OHRQoL(Oral Health-Related Quality of Life) and study casts for assessing the outcome by the Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) index was collected from two periods: (i) pretreatment data (T1), and (ii) post-treatment data (T2) collected 1 month after fixed orthodontic appliance debonding. Pretreatment and post-treatment Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and PAR scores were compared using Paired t-test. Correlations between occlusal indices (PAR) and OHRQoL (OHIP-14) were determined by Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results: Total of 42 patients were included in the study, out of which 34 patients responded to the questionnaire in which 11 were males and 23 females in the age range 18-30 years. From pre to postorthodontic treatment mean OHIP-14 summary score had significantly improved (score reduced) from 30.3 to 16.0. Similarly, mean PAR scores had reduced from 17.62 to 3.44. Significant correlation (p-value<0.05) existed between improvement in OHRQoL scores and improvement in occlusion after orthodontic treatment. Conclusion: The present study concluded that there was an improvement in oral health following fixed orthodontic treatments which were associated with changes in OHRQoL, PAR scores and changes in occlusion.