Impact of Surgical Periodontal Therapy on Oral Health-related Quality of Life in a South Indian Population

attitude toward treatment.Recently, there has been a shift where therapist-centered outcomes have yielded to patient-centered outcomes.6,7 In this modern era of medical and dental practice, patients have a dynamic and important role in treatment planning and health-related decision-making.Hence, prioritizing patient response over these traditional markers becomes an integral part of calibrating treatment outcomes.This heightened concern in the idea of quality of life (QoL) as an outcome measurement is now gaining popularity.It is a deep-rooted fact that periodontal disease has a detrimental impact on OHRQoL and its treatment improves the same.6,8,9 Among Indian adults, approximately 25% are affected by mild to moderate periodontitis, while about 19% suffer from IntroductIonThere is a wide array of oral diseases that exert an influence on the daily life of an individual.Not surprisingly, periodontal disease manifested by tooth mobility, pain, halitosis, receding gums, to list a few, is one of the major ailments that negatively impacts the quality of life.Quality of life is defined as an individual's perception of the position in life in the context of culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their personal goals, expectations, standards and concerns.This broader perspective of health was acknowledged by medical researchers as early as the 1960s.However, it was only after a decade that the dental researchers appreciated the significance of this expanded concept in relation to oral health.It was Cohen and Jago who first developed the concept of evaluating patients' perceptions regarding oral health conditions. 1 Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is an abstract concept regarding the individual's perception of how oral health impacts daily life.It is considered as one of the patient-based outcomes and is utilized to estimate the burden of oral diseases, oral health status, and response to treatment.2 The World Health Organization's Global Health Program emphasizes the significance of OHRQoL as a key entity in determining overall health and well-being.3 The gravity of periodontal disease is usually recorded using certain stereotyped characteristics such as probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL).4 Certain parameters which are significant for the patient, such as bleeding while brushing, redness of gums, bad breath, and loose teeth, are hardly given emphasis in a research report.5 Giving importance to these subjective criteria significantly improves patients'