Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Anodontia/physiopathology ; Anodontia/psychology ; Attitude to Health ; Cleft Lip/physiopathology ; Cleft Lip/psychology ; Cleft Palate/physiopathology ; Cleft Palate/psychology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dental Clinics ; Dental Service, Hospital ; Eating/physiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need ; Male ; Malocclusion/classification* ; Malocclusion/physiopathology ; Malocclusion/psychology ; Malocclusion, Angle Class II/physiopathology ; Malocclusion, Angle Class II/psychology ; Malocclusion, Angle Class III/physiopathology ; Malocclusion, Angle Class III/psychology ; Mastication/physiology ; Open Bite/physiopathology ; Open Bite/psychology ; Oral Health* ; Overbite/physiopathology ; Overbite/psychology ; Quality of Life* ; Sex Factors ; Stress, Psychological/physiopathology ; Stress, Psychological/psychology ; Tooth, Impacted/physiopathology ; Tooth, Impacted/psychology ; Young Adult
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of malocclusion severity on oral health-related quality of life and food intake ability in adult patients, controlling for sex, age, and the type of dental clinic visited.
METHODS: The sample consisted of 472 Korean patients (156 male, 316 female) with a mean age of 21.1 (SD, 8.6) years in a dental hospital and a private clinic. The correlations between the Korean version of the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14K), subjective food intake ability (FIA) for 5 key foods, and Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need-Dental Health Component (IOTN-DHC) were investigated.
RESULTS: The mean IOTN-DHC and OHIP-14K scores were significantly higher for the dental hospital patients than for the private clinic patients (IOTN-DHC, P <0.001; OHIP-14K, P <0.05). Malocclusion severity was significantly higher in male than in female subjects (P <0.001). Older patients perceived their oral health-related quality of life more negatively than did the teens (P <0.001). As the severity of the malocclusion increased, oral health-related quality of life and masticatory function worsened (OHIP-14K, P <0.001; FIA, P <0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: As the severity of the malocclusion and the age of the patients increased, oral health-related quality of life and masticatory function relatively deteriorated. This finding provides evidence that severe malocclusions are associated with lower quality of life and less masticatory efficiency in older patients.