A prospective longitudinal controlled assessment of pain experience and oral health‐related quality of life in adolescents undergoing fixed appliance treatment

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 .