Abstract:

Objective

To determine changes in oral health-related quality of life （OH-QoL）during fixed orthodontic appliance therapy in adult patients.

Methods

162 adult orthodontic patients completed six distinct intervals of the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile （OHIP-14， Chinese version）：before treatment （T0）， after the placement of the fixed appliance by 1 month （T1）， 3 months （T2）， 6 months （T3）， 12 months （T4）， posttreatment （T5）， and 6 months after posttreatment （T6）. The change of OH-QoL was analyzed.

Results

The overall response rate was 81.4%（162 of 199）. The highest subscale score was Psychological discomfort indicating worse OH-QoL in these subscales of Angle Ⅰ and Angle Ⅱ malocclusion patients. Howerver， the highest subscale score was Physical disability indicating worse OH-QoL in these subscales of Angle Ⅲmalocclusion patients. Significant differences of overall OHIP-14 scores could be found between any two time points （P＜0.05）， except for between T0 and T2 （P ＞0.05） and between T3 and T4 （P ＞0.05）. Overall scores at T1 were significantly higher than the scores at T0 （P＜0.05）， with a significant change in the scores on ＂have felt selfconscious＂， ＂had a painful aching in the mouth＂， ＂found it uncomfortable to eat any food＂， ＂had an unsatisfactory diet＂.

Conclusions

Fixed orthodontic appliance therapy did affect adult patients' OHQoL. The severity of the compromised condition in terms of overall OH-QoL was greatest at 1 month after insertion with the reported impact on physical pain， psychological discomfort， and physical disability. Compared to their OH-QoL before or during treatment， patients' OH-QoL became better after they finished the orthodontic treatment.

Key words: Fixed orthodontic appliance, Malocclusion, Oral health, Quality of life