Premium
A prospective longitudinal controlled assessment of pain experience and oral health‐related quality of life in adolescents undergoing fixed appliance treatment
Author(s) -
Johal A.,
Fleming P. S.,
Al Jawad F. A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
orthodontics and craniofacial research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1601-6343
pISSN - 1601-6335
DOI - 10.1111/ocr.12044
Subject(s) - quality of life (healthcare) , medicine , longitudinal study , oral health , prospective cohort study , physical therapy , dentistry , surgery , nursing , pathology
Structured Abstract Objective To compare subjective pain experience and oral health‐related quality of life ( OH ‐ Q o L ) in treated and untreated subjects over the first 3 months of fixed appliance therapy. Setting and Sample Population The D epartment of O rthodontics, S chool of M edicine and D entistry. One hundred and twenty‐four subjects aged between 11 and 14 years either commencing or awaiting fixed appliance treatment. Material & Methods A prospective controlled longitudinal study design was applied to subjects, over a 3‐month observation period, following the placement of fixed appliances. Socio‐economic status, OH ‐ Q o L , pain experience and analgesic consumption were recorded on questionnaires at baseline ( T 0), 6 weeks ( T 1) and 3 months ( T 2). Results Oral symptoms and functional limitation domains of OH ‐ Q o L were found to worsen, during the follow‐up period, in the test group ( p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively). In the treated group, pain intensity declined significantly on days 3 and 2 at T 1 and T 2, respectively ( p < 0.001). Analgesia was required during both periods in a total of 13 participants (24.5%) undergoing orthodontic treatment. Conclusion Based on this prospective controlled study, the initial stages of fixed appliance treatment results in subjective pain experience, with subsequent reduction, and a significant impact on oral symptoms and functional limitation domains of OH ‐ Q o L .