Impact of Malocclusion on the Quality of Life of young adults
Objectives: The purpose of study is to assess the association between malocclusion and oral health related quality of life in young adults without orthodontic treatment
Methods: The study sample comprised 100 adults who were attending orthodontic department at de’Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore. Duration of study was Jan2015 -May 2015. Adult patients aged 18-25 years who were willing to participate in the study, which had undergone no prior orthodontic treatment and had all permanent teeth present except third molars were included in the study. Exclusion criterion included patients with missing first molars due to congenital/ pathological reasons, patients requiring surgical intervention, patients with chronic medical conditions, patients with very poor periodontal status, patients with untreated deep carious lesions and patients with dentofacial deformities. The oral examination was done by at least three dentist using sterile mouth mirror and WHO probe on a dental unit. Dental Aesthetic index (DAI) recommended by WHO, was used for assessing the severity of malocclusion. Information was collected using a self-administered questionnaire.
Results: It was observed that in males there is highest oral health impact profile (OHIP) related to psychological problems followed by social and physical impacts where as in females the highest impact profile was observed on social impacts followed by physical and psychological impacts. Body unsatisfactory scale was almost double in females as compared to males. According to Dental Aesthetic index (DAI), most of the male and female have grade 1 DAI followed by grade 11, 111 and 1V DAI. Mean values from grade 1 to grade 1V of females were non significantly increased as compared the mean values of DAI grades of males.
Conclusions: The most common oral health domain impact was psychological and social discomfort and discomfort due to food getting stuck. Malocclusion affect the quality of life has yet to be clearly demonstrated. Further studies are required to verify the claim based on outcomes of oral disorders as perceived by subjects.