Abstract
Introduction and purpose
Wearing orthodontic appliances may negatively affect a patient’s oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) physiologically, psychologically, and socially. Few studies have assessed the effect of palatal expanders on OHRQoL. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of palatal expanders on OHRQoL and to compare it with that of fixed orthodontic appliances.
Materials and methods
All adolescent and adult orthodontic patients who were undergoing treatment with fixed appliances or palatal expanders between July 2015 and January 2016 in King Abdulaziz University Orthodontc Dental Clinics, were recruited (n=399). The OHRQoL of each participant was assessed using the shortened Arabic version of the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 questionnaire. OHRQoL was compared between users of fixed appliances and users of palatal expanders; it was also compared after stratifying the patients by gender. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were used, as indicated.
Results
Palatal expanders had significantly greater negative effects on chewing ability (P≤0.01) and pronunciation (P=0.048). However, fixed orthodontic appliances had significantly greater negative impacts on mouth aching (P=0.003), difficulty in relaxing (P=0.01), irritability (P=0.001), and embarrassment (P≤0.01).
Conclusion
Palatal expanders had a significantly greater negative impact on some aspects of OHRQoL when compared with fixed orthodontic appliances in adolescents and young adults.
Author contributions
MAA collected the data, analyzed the results, and wrote the manuscript. NJF conducted the statistical analyses, contributed to writing the manuscript, and supervised MAA throughout writing the manuscript. AHH developed the idea of the research, designed the study, analyzed the results, and edited the manuscript.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.