Pain and daily oral impact and satisfaction of patients treated with labial and lingual fixed appliances

Abstract

AIMS: To compare pain and daily oral impact experienced and satisfaction of patients treated with conventional labial fi xed orthodontic appliances (CLFOA) and lingual fi xed orthodontic appliances (LFOA). SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A prospective case-control longitudinal study of adult patients treated with LFOA (case group) and CLFOA (control group) over a 3-month period. Patients rated their overall pain experience and pain experienced at different orofacial locations on 100 mm visual analogue scales at three time points: 1 week and 1 and 3 months after bracket placement. In addition, an assessment of daily oral impacts and treatment satisfaction was assessed by means of a structured questionnaire. Times series analysis was conducted to compare pain, daily oral impact experienced and satisfaction over the study period between the case and control group. RESULTS: There was no signifi cant difference in global ratings of pain between the two groups over the time period (P > 0.05). However, LFOA patients reported higher ratings of tongue pain than CLFOA patients (P < 0.001) whereas CLFOA reported higher ratings of lip (P < 0.001) and cheek (P < 0.001) pain compared with LFOA over the study period. With respect to daily oral impacts, LFOA subjects reported more oral discomfort (P < 0.001), dietary changes (P < 0.001), diffi culty swallowing (P < 0.001), speech disturbances (P < 0.001) and social disturbances (P < 0.001) than CLFOA patients. There was no signifi cant difference in LFOA and CLFO ratings of satisfaction with treatment (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated with CLFOA experience similar levels of overall pain as those treated with LFOA but experience pain at different orofacial sites. LFOA patients tended to experience more daily oral impacts compared with CLFOA patients. Both groups had similar levels of satisfaction with treatment.