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© 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Orthodontic treatment offers significant functional and aesthetic benefits, but it often causes discomfort, impacting patients’ daily activities, including diet and medication use. The primary aim of this observational study was to assess the influence of orthodontic patients’ age, gender, and living environment on pain duration, diet impairment, and analgesic use one week after their first adjustment visit to the orthodontist. Methods: This observational study included a sample of 194 orthodontic patients who completed a questionnaire consisting of six single-choice questions. The questions addressed the following variables: age, gender, living environment, pain duration, diet impairment, and analgesic use. The main inclusion criteria encompassed undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment on the upper arch for one week using a 0.0016-inch superelastic NiTi archwire (American Orthodontics, Sheboygan, WI, USA) and presenting moderate to severe crowding of the upper and lower anterior teeth. Results: Female patients were significantly more likely to experience diet impairment than males (51.9% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.013). Among female patients reporting pain lasting approximately one week, a higher proportion resided in rural areas (25% vs. 6.8%, p = 0.045), whereas male patients reporting the same pain duration predominantly lived in urban areas (12.5% vs. 0%, p = 0.028). Overall, 55.7% of participants used analgesics, with females in rural areas being the most frequent users. Additionally, patients who used analgesics were significantly more likely to experience diet impairment than those who did not (64.3% vs. 49.1%, p = 0.041). Conclusions: Female patients residing in rural areas reported a longer duration of pain, which led to a greater likelihood of experiencing diet impairment and increased consumption of analgesics compared to their counterparts. These findings highlight the need for personalized pain management strategies in orthodontic treatment, especially for patients with increased vulnerability to discomfort.

Details

Title
Assessment of Pain, Diet, and Analgesic Use in Orthodontic Patients: An Observational Study
Author
Negruțiu, Bianca Maria 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Staniș, Claudia Elena 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Vaida, Ligia Luminița 1 ; Abel Emanuel Moca 1 ; Cristina Paula Costea 1 ; Iurcov, Raluca 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Alexandru Nicolae Pîrvan 3 ; Rus, Marius 2 

 Department of Dental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 10 Piața 1 Decembrie Street, 410073 Oradea, Romania[email protected] (L.L.V.); [email protected] (C.P.C.) 
 Department of Medical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 10 Piața 1 Decembrie Street, 410073 Oradea, Romania[email protected] (M.R.) 
 Department of Surgical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 10 Piața 1 Decembrie Street, 410073 Oradea, Romania; [email protected] 
First page
357
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
1010660X
e-ISSN
16489144
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3171100054
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.