Impact of orthognathic surgery on quality of life.

Purpose: To determine changes in quality of life (QOL) following orthognathic surgery in patients with dentofacial deformity, using generic health, generic oral health, and condition-specific QOL approaches.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-six patients were evaluated at baseline presurgical (T(0)), 6 weeks postoperatively (T(1)), and 6 months postoperatively (T(2)). Generic health-related QOL was assessed using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), generic oral health-related QOL was assessed by the 14-item Short Form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), and condition-specific QOL was assessed by the 22-item Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ).

Results: There was a significant reduction (deterioration) in SF-36 summary physical (P < .01) and mental health scores (P < .001) at 6 weeks after surgery but no significant change in overall OHIP-14 or OQLQ scores. At 6 months after surgery, SF-36 summary scores returned to baseline levels and significant reduction (improvements) in OHIP-14 (P < .001) and OQLQ mean scores (P < .001) were observed.

Conclusions: Significant changes in QOL occurred following orthognathic surgery. A marked but transient deterioration in many aspects related to general well being was noted in the early postoperative period and significant improvement was documented by 6 months. A comprehensive assessment of QOL using generic health, generic oral health, and condition-specific approaches proved useful in determining such changes.