Difference in Quality of Life According to the Severity of Malocclusion in Japanese Orthodontic Patients

Abstract

Although quality of life (QOL) assessment is important in dentistry, it has not been fully investigated in orthodontic patients. We investigated the health-related generic QOL (entire body health) and disease specific QOL (oral health) in adult patients with malocclusions at the first visit. One hundred and twenty-seven orthodontic patients and 66 persons with normal occlusion were recruited for the study. The subjects were divided into the three following groups based on their treatment: 61 patients in need of surgical correction (SURG), 66 patients in need of non-surgical correction (NONS), and 66 control subjects with normal occlusion. Their dentofacial morphology was assessed using a specific Severity Score (SS), which was set up originally based on their cephalometric radiographs and their plaster models of arrangement of their teeth. The subjects also completed a generic QOL assessment questionnaire, the SF-36, and two disease-specific QOL instruments. The patients with malocclusions, especially SURG, had lower disease-specific QOL, although the generic QOL was equal to that of control subjects. Furthermore, in patients with the same severity of dentofacial deformities, especially SS 4 and SS 5, the borderline cases of surgical correction and non-surgical correction, there were differences between SURG and NONS in some items of the QOL. The severity of malocclusion evidently plays an important role in patients' choice of treatment, but also QOL appeared to play a significant role. The QOL assessment may contribute to the selection of the best treatment for improving QOL, especially for borderline cases with moderate degrees of orthodontic abnormality.

Factors influencing patient-reported quality of life in pretreatment orthognathic surgery patients

“…10,12,[20][21][22][23] The mean total score of 53.5 in this cohort is three points above the previously reported 21 highest score in the literature. Proportionally, the domains in this study that were of most concern to individuals were social impact and esthetics, both 15% higher than mean scores from other authors' studies.…”

“…18 Motivation for patients to seek treatment can be broadly split into three main areas: an exclusively practical problem, an exclusively psychological problem, or, most likely, a combination of both. 3 It has been proposed 20 that patients with increased social QoL concerns are more likely to seek surgical intervention than are those with a purely esthetic concern. Our results show that females are both more aware of their appearance and more likely to complain of an increased social impact.…”

“…Proportionally, the domains in this study that were of most concern to individuals were social impact and esthetics, both 15% higher than mean scores from other authors' studies. [20][21][22][23] To put this in context, the sample size in this cohort, at 102 patients, is larger than most previous groups, with only one study 12 having a greater sample at 110 patients. In addition, over half the individuals had Class III malocclusions (51% of the sample).…”

Beneficial Effects of Orthodontic Treatment on Quality of Life in Patients with Malocclusion

“…To assess the patients' morphological deformities, we set up a Severity Score (SS) for each patient based on their cephalometric radiographs which were traced and lined, and the angular and plaster model measurements were assessed. The Severity Scores were used to assess the patients' dentofacial deformities, and defi ned in Table 1 (Tajima et al 2007).…”

“…We have recently reported that the patients with malocclusions especially in need of surgical correction had lower disease-specifi c HRQOL (Tajima et al 2007). However, even after orthodontic treatment by the expert dentists, patients show large variations in the level of satisfaction (Kiyak et al 1982;Flanary et al 1990;Enomoto et al 2000;Cunningham et al 2002).…”