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20 ORTHO NEWS Ortho Tribune United Kingdom Edition | 7/2017 Early orthodontic treatment and oral health-related quality of life m o c . k c o t s r e t t u h S / y a d u B a n N i Relationship confirmed by University of Sheffield’s School of Clinical Dentistry study © By DTI SHEFFIELD, UK: In Western coun- tries like the UK, between 10 and 20 per cent of adolescents un- dergo orthodontic measures in some form. A recent meta-analysis conducted by researchers at the University of Sheffield’s School of Clinical Dentistry has indicated that treatment in those younger years may have a measurable im- pact on a person’s oral health-re- lated quality of life (OHRQoL). In their review, they found that levels of emotional and social well-being AD The study revealed first evidence that orthodontic treatment in early age im- proves oral health-related quality of life. concerning OHRQoL improved moderately in patients who were treated orthodontically before they were 18 years old. The find- ings are relevant, because, until now, there has been little evidence that treatment actually improves OHRQoL. The researchers included data from over a dozen studies report- ing outcomes before and after or- thodontic treatment that were conducted within the last ten years in countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Italy, the UK and the US. Of these, four were finally selected for using similar ques- tionnaires to measure what young people thought about their teeth and how their dental appearance affected their life, before and after orthodontic treatment. All showed measurable and moderately large improvement in the areas of emo- tional and social well-being, ac- cording to the researchers. “As practicing orthodontists we are constantly being told by our patients that they are pleased they had their teeth straightened and that they are no longer embar- rassed to smile or to be photo- graphed,” explained co-author Prof. Philip Benson, who is also Di- rector of Research at the British Orthodontic Society. “We wanted to find all the research that has tried to measure this effect with young people.” While the findings are a first step to establishing a platform for exploring this issue further, Ben- son admitted that the number of participants included in the stud- ies was small and that high- er-quality data to substantiate the conclusions. A follow-up investigating OHRQoL in the under-18 age group under the supervision of co-author and student Hanieh Javidi as part of her doctoral research project is underway at the School of Clinical Dentistry. is needed study The study, titled “Does ortho- dontic treatment before the age of 18 years improve oral health-re- lated quality of life? A systematic review and meta-analysis,” was published in the April issue of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics.