Impact of wearing fixed orthodontic appliances on oral health-related quality of life among Brazilian children.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of wearing a fixed orthodontic appliance on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among Brazilian children.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

The Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics at Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS

Sample of 579 children aged 11-14 years. The children were divided into two groups: wearing (n = 160)and not wearing (n = 419)a fixed orthodontic appliance.

METHODS

A clinical examination was performed by a single examiner to determine whether or not a fixed orthodontic appliance was worn,the presence of a malocclusion using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI)and cavitated carious lesions. The impact of wearing a fixed orthodontic appliance on OHRQoL was measured using the short form of the Brazilian version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ(11-14)). Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney test and univariate/multiple logistic regression.

RESULTS

The total CPQ(11-14) score revealed a more frequent impact among children who wore a fixed orthodontic appliance than those who did not (P = 0·002).Similar findings were observed for the FL (P = 0·005),EWB (P = 0·006) and SWB (P = 0·003) subscales.There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the score on the OS subscale (P = 0·124).While females were 1·76 times more likely to have a worse OHRQoL than males, the use of a fixed orthodontic appliance was also significantly associated with a greater chance (OR = 1·60; CI = 1·11-2·33)of impacting OHRQoL when both variables were inserted together in the regression model.

CONCLUSION

Children wearing a fixed orthodontic appliance had significantly worse OHRQoL compared with a control group with no malocclusion and not wearing a fixed appliance.