Oral health-related quality of life of preschool children assisted at a University Dental Clinic / Oral health-related quality of life of preschool children assisted at a University Dental Clinic

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study assessed parental perception on children?s oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), and children?s views on their own teeth. Subjects and method: The sample included in this cross-sectional study consisted of 106 parents and their children, aged 0-6 years, who were assisted at a School of Dentistry. The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) was used to assess OHRQoL. Socioeconomic information and reasons for seeking dental care were asked and obtained from parents, while clinical information were collected from files. Children expressed the views on their teeth through an instrument with drawings. Data was analyzed by the Fisher?s exact test and Poisson regression. Results: The mean ECOHIS score was 8.31. Higher impacts on OHRQoL were observed in older children (RR=1.75; 95% CI=1.21-2.54), children referred to the clinic due to either dental trauma (RR=2.44; 95% CI=1.28-4.66) or caries (RR=2.64; 95% CI=1.39-5.05), children who have hadcaries (RR=2.15; 95% CI=1.50-3.08), and children whose parents perceived their own oral health as poor (RR=1.45; 95% CI=1.02-2.05). Twenty-three (31%) children expressed dissatisfaction with their oral health. Conclusions: The impact of oral diseases was high for this population. Children whose parents considered their own oral healthas regular/poor presented higher impact on quality of life. Moreover, older children, taken to the dentist due to caries or dental trauma, and with previous dental caries experience, presented negative impact on OHRQoL.