Oral health-related quality of life in patients with dentofacial deformity: a new concept in decision-making treatment?

BACKGROUND: The parameters for the indication of surgical-orthodontic treatment by professionals do not always coincide with the factors which motivate patients to seek treatment.; PURPOSE: The purpose of this review is to check the main applications of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) assessment in the treatment of dentofacial deformities and discuss how this approach enriches the traditional diagnostic evaluation and the treatment plan.; RESULTS: The indicators of OHRQoL are psychometric tools which can help orthodontists and maxillofacial surgeons in making individual treatment decisions, which include the following: (1) public health triage, (2) decision to treat or not to treat, (3) stipulating the ideal time for treatment, (4) decision making in borderline cases, (5) estimating if the patient will follow the treatment, and (6) they also act as tools to evaluate health services and patient satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the treatment performed.; CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the psychometric and morphological information tended to complement each other and helped to achieve better results, thereby leading to successful professional-patient relationships.