Patients' expectations and experiences of fixed orthodontic appliance therapy. Impact on quality of life

Abstract

Objective: To compare patients' expectations of the impact of wearing fixed orthodontic appliances on life quality with realities experienced over a 6-month period.

Materials and methods: Two-hundred and seventeen consecutive orthodontic patients (mean age 13.1 +/- 1.5 years) self-completed a 37-item Child Perception Questionnaire (CPQ) in relation to how they expected wearing fixed orthodontic appliances would affect their QoL during orthodontic treatment. The CPQ assessed the attributes of oral symptoms, functional limitations (FL), emotional well-being (EWB), and social well-being (SWB). Expectations were compared with the patients' pretreatment values and reported experiences at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after insertion of the fixed appliances.

Results: The response rate was 91% (197/217). Patients expected that wearing fixed appliances would considerably compromise their overall oral health-related QoL (OHQoL) compared with pretreatment (P < .001). At 1 week they reported that EWB (P < .001) and SWB (P < .05) were less compromised than expected. At 1, 3, and 6 months, FL (P < .001), EWB (P < .001), SWB (P < .001), and overall OHQoL (P < .001) were less compromised than expected.

Conclusions: This study indicated the impact on QoL after insertion of fixed orthodontic appliances was considerately less than what child patients expected.