ArticleEuropean journal of orthodontics2026
Oral health-related quality of life, experience and satisfaction in adolescents treated for dental crowding with self-ligating or conventional fixed appliances: a multicentre randomized controlled trial.
Article in European journal of orthodontics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05664282 (Orthodontic Treatment in Adolescents With Crowding and Displaced Teeth From the Clinical, the Patients' and Economic Perspectives), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Orthodontic Treatment in Adolescents With Crowding and Displaced Teeth From the Clinical, the Patients' and Economic Perspectives
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDental crowding affects nearly half of European adolescents and can negatively impact oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), particularly emotional and social well-being dimensions. Orthodontic treatment aims to improve function, aesthetics, and psychosocial well-being, yet active treatment may temporarily impair OHRQoL due to pain, dietary restrictions, and oral hygiene challenges. Understanding how conditions affect patients requires both objective and subjective assessments, yet patient reported outcomes remain underreported in orthodontic research, especially when comparing treatment techniques.
objectivesTo evaluate and compare OHRQoL, treatment motivation, expectations, quality of care and attention, and satisfaction in adolescents with dental crowding treated with two fixed appliance systems without extractions, and to explore factors associated with satisfaction with treatment outcomes. TRIAL
designMulticentre, two-arm, parallel-group, superiority randomized controlled trial, with pooled analyses of both treatment groups, sex-stratified comparisons, and analyses exploring associations.
methodsAdolescents (n = 132), 12-17 years, with dental crowding were randomized with 1:1 ratio using computer generated random permuted blocks, stratified by sex, to receive fixed appliance treatment without extractions with either a conventional bracket system (CB; Victory) or a passive self-ligating bracket system (PSLB; DamonQ) at four orthodontic clinics. Primary outcome was Child Perceptions Questionnaire 11-14 (CPQ) score change. Two items were omitted; sensitivity analysis confirmed minimal impact on results. Secondary outcomes were patient experience and satisfaction questionnaires (10-point scale) assessed before treatment (T0), post-alignment (T1), and post-treatment (T2). Because of the nature of the treatments, only assessors could be blinded.
resultsBoth the CB (♀39, ♂31) and PSLB (♀34, ♂28) groups reported improved OHRQoL (median CPQ score change T0-T2 for total sample: 4.5; r = 0.37, P < .001) with minor intergroup differences. Oral symptoms and functional limitations worsened at T1 then improved by T2 (median change T0-T2 for each domain: 1, r = 0.23, 0.27, respectively, P < .001), whereas emotional and social well-being improved throughout treatment (median change T0-T2 for each domain: 1; r = 0.28, P < .001). Median scores were high for motivation (9) and overall satisfaction with treatment outcomes (≥9), and low for regretting having started treatment (1). Correlations between treatment expectations and satisfaction were observed (ρ = 0.330, P < .001). Minor harms expected during orthodontic treatment included plaque accumulation, chafing and gingivitis.
conclusionsThis study indicates that fixed appliance treatment for dental crowding leads to improvements in OHRQoL, with temporary declines during treatment, and high patient satisfaction in the studied sample. Patients reported satisfaction with the changes achieved, dental appearance, and did not regret having started treatment. The results demonstrate possible benefits of treatment, patient-centred care, and support the use of patient reported outcomes in orthodontic practice.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05664282) 2022-11-24.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.