# Impact of orthodontic appliances on patients’ daily lives: a comparison between clear aligners and fixed appliances

## TL;DR

This study compares how clear aligners and fixed orthodontic appliances affect patients' daily lives over time, finding that both improve with adaptation.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into patient adaptation to orthodontic appliances over the course of treatment.

## Key findings

- No significant differences were found in most domains except for interpersonal relationships with fixed appliances.
- Patients using fixed appliances showed higher initial dissatisfaction, which decreased over time.
- Adaptation to orthodontic appliances is a key factor in reducing dissatisfaction during treatment.

## Abstract

This study aimed to compare the impact of treatment with clear aligners versus conventional fixed appliances on the daily lives of orthodontic patients during the first six months and the last six months of treatment.

The study involved 112 adult patients who were divided into four groups. All participants completed the “Dental Impacts on Daily Living” (DIDL) questionnaire, which included 36 questions and covered five domains including appearance, pain, comfort, general performance and eating/chewing. Descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney test were used to analyze the total the scores for each domain, while Fisher’s exact test was used to compare the groups regarding the frequency of “dissatisfied”, “relatively satisfied”, and “satisfied” responses.

The results showed no significant differences (p>0.05) in the total scores or in the scores for each domain, except for the “General performance/Interpersonal relationship” domain during the initial and final phases of treatment with fixed appliances, indicating that patients adapted to the appliance over time. The initial phase of treatment with fixed appliances presented the highest percentage of dissatisfaction.

Both treatments showed a decrease in the level of dissatisfaction reported by patients between the initial and final stages, indicating that adaptation is a crucial factor in the impact of orthodontic appliances on patients’ daily lives. Therefore, orthodontists must be especially attentive to the needs of patients in the period immediately after the device is installed.