Quality of Life of Patients Suffering from Dentofacial Deformity, in Israel

Background:

Dentofacial deformity is defined as a severe deformity of the jaws and dental system. Dentofacial deformities are repaired with orthosurgery that restores proper jaw placement. Despite the known efficacy of orthognathic intervention, patients’ quality of life has yet to be studied in Israel. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life of patients in Israel suffering from dentofacial deformities before and after orthognathic surgery.

Methods:

A prospective cohort study was performed at the Rabin Medical Center between 2016 to 2018, on a group of patients ages 15-35 years; the study includes 30 patients with dentofacial anomalies planned to undergo orthognathic surgery, whose quality of life was assess before and after surgery using the Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQOL).

Results:

A total of 55 patients were interviewed before undergoing the orthognathic surgery, of whom 30 patients were also interviewed following the surgery.

Among these 30 patients, there was a significant difference in quality of life prior to and following the surgery. Their reported satisfaction prior to the surgery was 0.62 (±0.22), in comparison to 0.18 (±0.13) following (P value<0.001).

Conclusions:

A statistically significant difference in quality of life has been found in patients suffering from dentofacial deformities prior to undergoing surgery (showing significantly less satisfaction) compared with after surgery. The higher the score the stronger the indication of decreased quality of life. Thus, it can be concluded that the quality of life in patients suffering from dentofacial anomalies greatly increases following orthognathic surgery. Therefore, the advantage of orthognathic surgery is high, suggesting its high medical benefit and strengthens the justification of inclusion in the National Health Law.