| Summary: | This prospective cohort study aimed to assess changes in quality of life (QoL) for “orthodontic first” approach (OFA) and “surgery first” approach (SFA) patients. Sixty patients who underwent orthognathic surgery via either the OFA (<i>n</i> = 30) or the SFA (<i>n</i> = 30) provided self-administered questionnaires (SAQs) about their orthognathic quality of life (Thai version OQLQ). Data were collected at four time points: before surgery (T1), and postoperatively, at 1 (T2), 3 (T3) and 6 months (T4). Intragroup and intergroup comparisons were performed by the Friedman test and the Mann–Whitney U test, respectively. Both the OFA and the SFA showed that QoL scores gradually improved in each domain for 6 months after surgery. The pattern of improvement after surgery in the SFA group was: facial esthetics (E) at 1 month; awareness of facial deformities (A) and social aspects of deformity (S) at 3 months; oral function (F) at 6 months. The pattern of improvement after surgery in the OFA group was: facial esthetics (E) and social aspects of deformity (S) at 1 month; awareness of facial deformities (A) at 3 months; oral function (F) at 6 months. The most concerning domain for Thai patients in our center OQLQ was the facial esthetic domain.
|
|---|