Minimal Important Difference of the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire Following Orthodontic Treatment: A Cohort Study

(1) This study aimed to do a longitudinal validation of the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics questionnaire (PIDAQ) and determine its minimal important difference (MID) following orthodontic treatment; (2) 42 adolescents (11 to 18 years old) were recruited for treatment with fixed appliances and the participants answered the Malaysian PIDAQ prior to treatment (T0), mid-treatment (T1), and post-treatment (T2), plus a global health transition scale at T1 and T2. Data analyses included repeated measures ANOVA and paired sample t-tests. Test-retest was administered 2 to 6 weeks from T0; (3) The final sample comprised 37 subjects (response rate = 88.1%). The 95% limits of agreement were -10.3 to 8.5 points. In the anchor-based approach, those who experienced the smallest changes by reporting their dental aesthetics as "a little improved" had an insignificant PIDAQ score change of -5.3 at T1. At T2, the PIDAQ scores of those in this category were reduced significantly (mean change = -26.2; effect size (ES) = 1.0; p = 0.34). In the distribution-based approach, standardized PIDAQ scores were significantly reduced, with medium (0.7) to large (1.5) ES at T1 and T2, respectively; (4) The PIDAQ can detect orthodontic-related changes in patients' psychosocial well-being. The post-treatment MID is 26 scale points with large ES.