# The impact of space closure versus space opening and prosthetic rehabilitation treatment on a young person's quality of life, aesthetics, and self-esteem in hypodontia: a longitudinal prospective study

## TL;DR

This study found that orthodontic and restorative treatments for hypodontia improved young people's quality of life, self-esteem, and dental aesthetics, with no major difference between space closure and space opening methods.

## Contribution

The study provides longitudinal evidence on the psychological and aesthetic benefits of treating hypodontia in young people.

## Key findings

- Both space closure and space opening treatments improved quality of life and self-esteem in participants.
- Space closure showed favorable outcomes in most domains of the Bristol Condition Specific Questionnaire.
- No significant differences were found between the two treatment approaches for most outcomes.

## Abstract

The present research study uniquely aimed to evaluate the impact of undergoing orthodontic and restorative treatment on a young person’s oral health-related quality of life (QoL), self-esteem and aesthetics in relation to the management of hypodontia.

A prospective longitudinal hospital-based study recruited 97 participants with hypodontia, aged 11–18 years. The following questionnaires were completed both prior (T0) and after the completion of treatment by either space closure or opening and restorative rehabilitation (T1) treatment: child perception questionnaire, Bristol condition specific questionnaire for hypodontia (BCS), child health questionnaire and the Oral Aesthetic Subjective Impact Scale. The outcome variables was the end of treatment measurements, all of which were continuous in nature. The analysis was performed using analysis of covariance.

A total of 26 participants were lost to follow up. At the completion of treatment (T1), 71 participants completed all four questionnaires. In this cohort, there were 31 participants in the space opening and 40 in the space closure group. For both groups, improvements were observed in both QoL, self-esteem and dental aesthetics. Whilst Overall, there was no statistically significant difference detected in a number of outcomes between the two groups differences were detected in the majority of domains of the BCS, favourable towards space closure (P < .03).

Treatment in participants with a range of hypodontia severity appears to have a significant positive impact, both psychologically and in terms of aesthetics. Furthermore, with the exception of the BCS, no difference in the outcomes was detected irrespective of whether participants underwent either orthodontic space closure or space opening, with subsequent prosthetic replacement.