Impact of a dental care program on the quality of life of children with and without caries

ABSTRACT

Abstract The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effects of the caries treatment provided by a dental care program on changes in schoolchildren's OHRQoL. A one-year follow-up was conducted with a sample of 372 children aged 8 to 10 years which were clinically examined and divided into two matched groups according to their caries experience dental treatment group (DTG) and group without caries (GWC). Both groups were assessed three times (at baseline, at 4 weeks, and at 1 year) using the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ8-10). The normality test was performed for the statistical analyses; the Friedman test was used for the dependent variables (longitudinal assessment repeated three times for the same group); and the Mann-Whitney test was used for the independent variables (test and control groups in each time period). There was improvement in all domains and in overall CPQ8-10 (p < 0.0001) in the DTG over time, but no significant changes (p > 0.05) were observed at baseline for overall CPQ8-10 and for the emotional well-being domain in the GWC. The comparison between groups demonstrated that OHRQoL was persistently better for the GWC (p < 0.05) over time. In conclusion, dental caries treatment has a long-term positive impact on schoolchildren's OHRQoL, highlighting the importance of health policies that promote access to dental care for this population.