Impact of Prosthetic Rehabilitation on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Oral Cancer at a Tertiary Care Center in Kerala

A noticeable improvement was observed in almost all domains of LORQv3 and OHIP-14, across both follow-ups. Regarding oral function, the LORQv3 showed improvement in chewing (3.39 ± 0.78 → 2.24 ± 0.60 → 1.54 ± 0.44, η² = 0.874) and swallowing (3.48 ± 0.76 → 1.96 ± 0.60 → 1.32 ± 0.41, η² = 0.879) from prerehabilitation to one and six months postrehabilitation, respectively. Similarly, OHIP-14 domains of functional limitation (3.09 ± 0.75 → 1.05 ± 0.81 → 0.50 ± 0.72, η² = 0.854) and physical disability (3.00 ± 0.74 → 1.06 ± 0.75 → 0.46 ± 0.58, η² = 0.841) reflected comparable improvements. In terms of comfort and physical well-being, LORQv3 salivation (2.65 ± 0.84 → 1.70 ± 0.44 → 1.29 ± 0.33, η² = 0.703) and mouth opening (2.77 ± 0.96 → 1.77 ± 0.74 → 1.36 ± 0.48, η² = 0.708) scores decreased steadily, aligning with OHIP-14 physical pain (3.17 ± 0.65 → 1.13 ± 0.87 → 0.51 ± 0.75, η² = 0.847), indicating reduced oral discomfort. Improvements in speech, appearance, and psychosocial domains were also evident, with LORQv3 speech (3.36 ± 0.74 → 2.06 ± 0.78 → 1.52 ± 0.62, η² = 0.782), orofacial appearance (3.18 ± 0.88 → 2.09 ± 0.72 → 1.67 ± 0.74, η² = 0.728), and social interaction (3.31 ± 0.90 → 2.13 ± 0.66 → 1.65 ± 0.74, η² = 0.758) showing consistent enhancement. Correspondingly, OHIP-14 domains such as psychological discomfort (2.92 ± 0.81 → 1.21 ± 1.08 → 0.61 ± 0.93, η² = 0.775), social disability (3.27 ± 0.81 → 2.15 ± 1.30 → 1.82 ± 1.44, η² = 0.482), and handicap (3.97 ± 0.67 → 2.69 ± 1.13 → 2.01 ± 1.15, η² = 0.788) demonstrated progressive improvement. Overall, both LORQv3 and OHIP-14 revealed parallel trends with mean score reductions of approximately 1.5-2.5 points across overlapping domains, confirming significant enhancement in oral function, comfort, and psychosocial quality of life following rehabilitation. Gender, economic status, geography, and treatment type significantly influenced outcomes of LORQv3 and OHIP-14. Strong correlations between domains of OHIP-14 and LORQv3 were observed. These results highlight the importance of timely, interdisciplinary prosthetic rehabilitation, which not only facilitates functional restoration but also greatly improves OHRQoL.