Parents' and caregivers' perceptions of the quality of life of adolescents in the first 4 months of orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate adolescents oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in the first 4 months of fixed orthodontic appliance treatment using parents and caregivers as proxies.

Design: Descriptive study.

Setting: Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Participants: A sample of parents and caregivers of 95 adolescents undergoing orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance.

Methods: Participants were required to answer the Brazilian version of the Parental-Caregivers Perceptions Questionnaire (P-CPQ) before adolescent's treatment (T1) and 4 months after bonding of the fixed appliance (T2). Statistical analysis was carried out using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Bonferroni correction for the domains of P-CPQ.

Results: Among the 95 participants, there were 73 mothers, 18 fathers and 4 were other relations. There was a statistically significant improvement in the overall score as well as in both emotional and social wellbeing subscales (P<0·001).

Conclusion: Parents and caregivers report an improvement on their adolescent's OHRQoL in the first 4 months of orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance.

Keywords: Adolescent; orthodontic treatment; parent report; proxy; quality of life.