The Change in Oral Health Related-Quality of Life among Adolescents and Their Families after Orthodontic Treatment

Objective: Assess the changes in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents and their parents after overjet reduction.;Materials and Methods: 53 patients between the ages of 11-18 years with increased dental overjet (≥ 6mm) and their parents were selected, of which 28 were pre- and 25 were post-treatment with dental overjet reduced to within normal limits. The data collection instrument was the Child Oral Health Quality of Life (COHQoL) Questionnaire.;Results: Adolescents and their parents reported poorer quality of life before orthodontic treatment than after. The improvement in oral health-related quality of life was statistically significant for all health domains except for the social well-being domain. Parental reports on (OHRQoL) were in agreement with their children's. No statistically significant differences were evident in (OHRQoL) between pre- and post-treatment groups.;Conclusions: Adolescents with increased dental overjet ≥6mm experienced substantial psycho-social impacts. Adolescents with increased overjet can accurately recall the initial negative effects of the original malocclusion on their lives, even after a time lapse of five years. Orthodontic treatment significantly improves the perceived quality of life of orthodontic patients and their parents.