Assessing change in quality of life using the Oral Health Impact Profile in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery: A before and after comparison with a minimal follow-up of two years

Purpose: Here we evaluated how orthognathic surgery impacted oral health-related quality of life among patients with dentofacial deformities in the immediate postoperative period and during ≥2 years of follow-up, using the OHIP-14-NL questionnaire.

Methods: This prospective study included 86 patients. Quality of life was assessed using the Dutch version of the Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14-NL) preoperatively (T₀, baseline), over 7 days postoperatively (T₁-T₇), and at 4 weeks (T₈), 6 months (T₉), 1 year (T₁₀), and ≥2 years (T₁₁) postoperatively. Total OHIP score was determined for each patient. Lower OHIP scores indicated higher oral health-related quality of life. Patients also answered questions regarding self-care, discomfort, and experienced pain at all time-points, starting from T₁.

Results: Compared to baseline (T₀), median OHIP scores were significantly higher from T₁ to T₈. However, at T₉ to T₁₁, OHIP scores were significantly lower compared to baseline (T₀) (p < 0.01). OHIP scores were not correlated with gender, age, or blood loss; and did not significantly differ according to surgery type or surgery indication (p > 0.01). Pain scores were positively correlated with OHIP scores for all time-points, except T₆ and T₁₀. Pain was not correlated with sex, age, blood loss, surgery duration, surgery indication, or surgery type. Compared to at T₁, pain was significantly decreased at T₉-T₁₁.

Conclusion: Among patients who underwent orthognathic surgery, oral health-related quality of life was decreased in the immediate postoperative period, but improved at ≥6 months postoperatively. The improvement was significant 2 years after orthognathic surgery.