Impact of Orthodontic Treatment on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life and other psychological variables

The oral-facial region is usually an area of significant concern for the individual, because it draws the most attention from other people in interpersonal interactions and is the primary source of vocal, physical, and emotional communication. As a result, patients who seek orthodontic treatment are concerned with improving their appearance and social acceptance, often more than they are with improving their oral function or health. Enhancing these aspects of quality of life is an important motive for undergoing orthodontic treatment. The aim of this article is to determine, according to previous studies, changes that occur in oral health-related quality of life during orthodontic appliance therapy, and to assess the impact that the improvement of patients’ dental–facial morphology has at the end of the orthodontic treatment upon other psychological variables: self-esteem and current self-related thoughts.