Impact of malocclusion treatments on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life: an overview of systematic reviews

• Published in: Clinical oral investigations Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 907 - 932
• Main Authors: Ribeiro, Luciana Gonçalves, Antunes, Leonardo Santos, Küchler, Erika Calvano, Baratto-Filho, Flares, Kirschneck, Christian, Guimarães, Ludmila Silva, Antunes, Lívia Azeredo Alves
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Decision making; Dental Care; Dental occlusion; Dentistry; Grey literature; Humans; Malocclusion; Medicine; Meta-analysis; Oral Health; Oral hygiene; Orthodontics; Quality of Life; Review; Reviews; Systematic Reviews as Topic; Malocclusion; Treatment; Systematic Review; Meta-analysis; Quality of life
• ISSN: 1436-3771; 1432-6981; 1436-3771
• DOI: 10.1007/s00784-022-04837-8

Objective To perform an overview of systematic reviews (SR) assessing the impact of malocclusion treatments (Orthodontic Treatment — OT and/or Orthodontic Surgical Treatment — OST) on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL). Materials and methods A search strategy was conducted in electronic databases until June 7th, 2021, followed by a manual search in grey literature and registration databases. Two independent authors applied the eligibility criteria, extracted the data, assessed the risk of bias (AMSTAR-2), and performed the certainty of evidence (GRADE) evaluation. Meta-analysis was planned to be carried out in RevMan 5.3 (with 95% confidence intervals (CI) considering p  < 0.05), in case of homogeneous studies considering OHRQoL instrument and time of follow-up. Results A total of 126 articles were accessed on the database, 18 registers, 33 records on grey literature and 3 articles by means of citation searching. After duplicates removal and eligibility criteria analyses, 15 SR were included. From that, 13 showed improvement in OHRQoL after OT and/or OST. The methodological quality ranges from high ( n  = 2), to critically low ( n  = 9). Meta-analysis was conducted. Improvement on OHRQoL after a 6-month OST using the OQLQ–22 ( p  < 0.00001; 19.65; CI: 12.60–26.70) and OHIP–14 instruments ( p  < 0.00001; 10.70; CI: 9.89–11.51); and after a 6-month OT using the CPQ 11–14 instrument ( p  = 0.010; 3.57; CI: 0.86–6.28) with very low certainty of the evidence for all outcomes was observed. Conclusions Although most SR selected in this overview are characterized by a critically low quality, as well as very low certainty of the evidence, OT and/or OST seem to have a positive impact in improving the OHRQoL. Clinical Relevance The overview of existing systematic reviews compiled that OT and/or OST seem to have a positive impact on improving the OHRQoL. This information will facilitate clinical decision-making considering the clinical and psychological parameters.