Evaluation of Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of Patients Treated with Fixed Orthodontic Therapy: An Observational Cross-Sectional Study

Khushboo  Shahbaz; Mariyam  Masood; Junaid  Dayar; Ali  Anwaar; Fareed  Ahmad; Muhammad Shairaz  Sadiq

doi:10.29054/apmc/2023.1255

Khushboo Shahbaz Senior Registrar, Head of Department Oral Medicine, Azra Naheed Dental College, Lahore Pakistan
Mariyam Masood Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Faryal Dental College, Lahore Pakistan
Junaid Dayar Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Institute of Dentistry, CMH Lahore Medical College, Lahore Pakistan
Ali Anwaar Associate Professor, Community & Preventive Dentistry Department, Institute of Dentistry CMH Lahore Medical College, Lahore Pakistan
Fareed Ahmad Associate Professor Oral Medicine & Diagnosis, Institute of Dentistry, CMH Lahore Medical College, Lahore Pakistan
Muhammad Shairaz Sadiq Associate Professor & Head of Department of Oral Medicine, Institute of Dentistry CMH, Lahore Medical College, Lahore Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29054/apmc/2023.1255

Keywords: OHRQoL, OHIP-14, Lingual appliances, Buccal appliances, Orthodontic therapy

Abstract

Background: The rising number of adult orthodontic patients has led to a rise in the demand for cosmetic orthodontic equipment in recent years. Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) corresponds to the QoL characteristics that individuals use to describe how they feel about their oral health state. No cross-sectional observational study comparing OHRQoL outcomes between buccal and lingual fixed orthodontic treatment has been reported. Therefore, using the OHIP-14 questionnaire, this study aimed to compare the OHRQoL of patients with lingual vs buccal orthodontic appliances. Objective: The objective of the study is to determine the impact of fixed orthodontic treatment on patients' oral health-related quality of life. Study Design: Observational cross-sectional study. Settings: This study was conducted at Azra Naheed Dental College, Lahore Pakistan. Duration: September 2022 to February 2023. Methods: A demographic questionnaire was used in this investigation. Each patient's demographics (age, gender, socioeconomic and educational status), clinical characteristics, investigations, and treatment were recorded on a data sheet. In the Lingual and Buccal appliance groups, 37 patients were studied. The OHIP-14 questionnaire assessed OHRQoL. This includes functional limitation, pain, psychological discomfort, disability, social impairment, and handicap. The researcher used English and Urdu translation of the OHIP14 questionnaire for patient recruitment. SPSS 20 analyzed the data. Results: There was a total of 25 males and 49 females. The unmarried, low-income status, and at least graduated were shown the high frequency. In the lingual appliance group, the age between 17-25 years with mean 12.97 months of treatment. However, the patients included in the buccal appliance group had the age between 18-25 years with the mean 13 months of treatment. Average OHIP-14 scores were 9.819 and 9.790 for the lingual and buccal groups, respectively, before the brackets were put in place (T0). Domains of OHIP were significantly different within the group as compared with T0 (p<0.005). Compared to pre-treatment values, functional limitation, physical pain, and the other domains were increased significantly (p<0.001) and peaked in the initial week after treatment in the lingual and buccal appliance groups. Conclusion: Therapy improved OHRQoL in both lingual and buccal groups. After one month of treatment, the lingual group showed better performance than the buccal group. Both groups had OHRQoL drop in the initial week then recover steadily. Buccal patients experienced higher functional limitation, somatic pain, physical impairment, and social incapacity than lingual patients.