Association of non-surgical periodontal therapy on patients' oral health related quality-of-life - a multi-center cohort study.

AIM: The aim of this multi-center cohort study was to investigate the association of non-surgical periodontal therapy (NST) on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in general and related to severity of periodontal disease and treatment modalities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred seventy-two patients with periodontal disease from 18 dental practices were measured before and 6-8 weeks after NST using a standardized and validated OHRQoL instrument (Oral Health Impact Profile - G14, OHIP-G14). Another questionnaire was filled out by the dentists to evaluate the influence of treatment modalities and disease severity.

RESULTS: Overall, the mean value of the OHIP baseline improved significantly after NST (p<0.0001). Furthermore, a significant negative association between the severity of periodontitis and OHRQoL could be detected, and only patients with moderate and severe periodontitis showed a significant improvement of OHIP mean values (p<0.0001). The results also indicated a significant association of the practitioners (p=0.0362) as well as treatment modalities (favoring systemic antibiotics, p=0.0066) regarding the improvement of the patients' OHRQoL.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that NST is positively associated with patients' oral health-related quality of life. This association seems to depend on the disease severity and caregiver and treatment modality. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.