The impact of splinting mobile mandibular incisors on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life-Preliminary observations from a randomized clinical trial.

Abstract

To compare the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of patients with mobile mandibular incisors before and after full-mouth disinfection (FMD) with and without splinting. Thirty-four periodontitis patients with ≥1 mobile mandibular incisor (degree II/III) were randomly allocated to the test or control group. All patients received FMD and the test group additional splinting of teeth 33-43. OHRQoL was assessed before (BL) and 3months after FMD (RE) using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP)-14. Data were compared within and between the groups (Wilcoxon test/Mann-Whitney U test). Twenty-eight patients (13 test group/15 control group) were re-evaluated. FMD led to a reduction of the mean probing pocket depth (PPD; in mm) (test group: BL-PPD 3.89±1.03, RE-PPD 2.82±0.53; control group: BL-PPD 3.58±0.66, RE-PPD 2.77±0.59; each p≤.001), the mean clinical attachment level (CAL; in mm) (test group: BL-CAL 5.22±1.38, RE-CAL 4.79±0.85; control group: BL-CAL 4.58±1.10, RE-CAL 4.41±0.96; each p≤.05), and the mean OHIP-14 summary scores (test group: BL-OHIP 21.7±11.06, RE-OHIP 9.9±8.96, p=.0046; control group: BL-OHIP 16.8±8.27, RE-OHIP 11.7±8.55; p=.0217). The reduction of the OHIP-G14 scores was considerably higher in the test group but statistically not significant (p=.080). The results show a positive impact of non-surgical periodontal treatment on OHRQoL and a possible tendency for further improvement by splinting mobile mandibular incisors.