Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil
* Corresponding author Email: lucasgabreu@bol.com.br
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to discuss critically the impact of orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance on individuals’ oral health-related quality of life. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies were evaluated by a critical review of English-language articles retrieved from the PubMed electronic database. The selected articles were identified from titles, abstracts and full-text articles by two independent reviewers, considering the tabulated inclusion and exclusion criteria. Disagreements were resolved by consensus.
Conclusion
A total of 17 full-text articles were included in the present critical review, which showed that the results from a successful orthodontic treatment improve individuals’ emotional well-being and their quality of life. However, this improvement is observed on short-term evaluations. There is no evidence that orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance has long-term effects on oral health-related quality of life.