Masticatory performance is associated with quality of life in patients with maxillary defects after definitive obturator rehabilitation.

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between objectively assessed oral function and quality of life (QoL) in patients with maxillary defects after definitive obturator rehabilitation. The study participants were 67 patients who had completed prosthetic rehabilitation with a definitive obturator after maxillectomy. Masticatory performance, occlusal force, and tongue pressure were assessed as objective measures of oral function. Clinical variables included sex, age, time since surgery and prosthetic rehabilitation, defect extent, history of radiotherapy, and number of remaining teeth. QoL was evaluated using the Japanese versions of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Head and Neck 35 (EORTC QLQ-H&N35) and the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated and multiple linear regression analysis performed to identify factors independently associated with QoL. In the univariable analyses, masticatory performance was significantly associated with the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 "Swallowing" domain, whereas occlusal force was associated only with the "Speech" domain and tongue pressure showed no significant associations. In the multiple linear regression analyses, masticatory performance was independently associated with the OHIP-14 total score but was not significantly associated with any of the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 domains. Masticatory performance was associated with oral health-related QoL in patients with maxillary defects after definitive obturator rehabilitation. The associations differed between the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 and the OHIP-14, which assess different aspects of patient-reported outcomes after maxillectomy rehabilitation.