Preadolescent's oral health-related quality of life during the first month of fixed orthodontic appliance therapy

Objectives: To evaluate preadolescent oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) during the first month of fixed orthodontic appliance therapy. Design: Descriptive study. Setting: The Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics at Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Participants: This study included a sample of 96 preadolescent children aged between 11 and 12 years undergoing orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance. Methods: Preadolescent children were required to answer the short form of the Brazilian version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ(11-14)) before treatment (T0) and 1 month after placement of the fixed appliance (T1). Statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Bonferroni correction for the domains of CPQ(11-14). Results: Out of the 96 patients originally admitted, one gave up the treatment before the placement of bands and one failed to return the second questionnaire (T1). So, a sample of 94 preadolescents participated in this study, with a response rate of 97.9%. Among the 94 participants, 49 were females (52.1 %) and 45 were males (47.9 %). The mean age was 11.5 years (SD=0.502). There was a statistically significant improvement in emotional well-being domain (P < 0.001) as well as in the overall score (P=0.032). However, there were no significant changes in oral symptoms, functional limitations and social wellbeing domains (P > 0.013) before treatment and 1 month after the placement of fixed appliance. Conclusion: One month after the placement of fixed orthodontic appliance, the preadolescents had positive alterations in their OHRQoL mainly in the emotional well-being domain.