THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE PRODUCTION ON THE EFFECTS OF MALOCCLUSION AND ITS TREATMENT ON QUALITY OF LIFE

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the scientific production on the impact of malocclusion and its treatments on quality of life. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study analyzing the abstracts published in the annals of the Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Dental Research from 2014 to 2017. The descriptors: “má oclusão”, “maloclusão” and “qualidade de vida” were analyzed. Abstracts addressing the relationship between malocclusion and its treatment with quality of life, were considered. The following variables were analyzed: year, state, sample size, study design, sample age, objective, and type of analysis, collection instrument and outcomes. The data were tabulated and analyzed descriptively by means of frequencies and percentages. Results: Of the total of 57 abstracts, 2015 was the year with the highest number of abstracts (n = 17; 29.8%). The states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais were the ones that published the most (n = 16, 28.1% and n = 15, 26.3%). In 45.6% of the abstracts, the objective of the study was "to evaluate the impact of malocclusion and other factors on the quality of life". The age of 7 to 18 years was the most studied age group (n = 35; 64.1%). There was a predominance of studies with n of up to 100 individuals (n = 20; 35.1%). The most reported outcome (n = 30; 52.6%) was "malocclusion does not impact quality of life". The most frequent study design was observational (n = 53; 92.9%) and cross-sectional. (n = 52, 91.2%). The most used research instrument and statistical test was DAI (n = 16; 28.0%) and Poisson regression (n = 18; 31.5%), respectively. Conclusion: Dental scientific research is focused on a few topics and is predominantly observational. Longitudinal tracking and experimental designs are suggested for better research outcomes. DESCRIPTORS: Malocclusion. Quality of life. Orthodontics.