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

Purpose: This study evaluated parental perception on child’s oral health-related quality of life (COHRQoL) and children´s feeling about her own teeth. Materials and Methods: A sample of 106 parents and their 0-6-year-old children attending a Dentistry School was included in this cross-sectional study. The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) was used to evaluate COHRQoL. Socioeconomic information and the reason care was sought and obtained from parents and clinical information was collected from files. Children expressed their feelings on their teeth by an instrument with drawings. Statistical analysis: Fisher’s exact test and Poisson Regression were used for data analyses. Results: 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 taken to the dental clinic due to dental trauma (RR=2.44; 95%CI=1.28-4.66) or caries (RR=2.64; 95%CI=1.39-5.05), who had caries (RR=2.15; 95% CI=1.50-3.08) and those children whose parents considered 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. Older children, those taken to the dentist due to caries or dental trauma, with dental caries experience and whose parents considered their oral health as regular/poor had impaired quality of life.