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Dental caries and quality of life among preschool children: a hospital-based nested case-control study

British Dental Journal (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Introduction Oral health-related quality of life is a reflection of general health and wellbeing; related problems stand as major public health issues.

Aim To investigate the potential association between dental caries and quality of life (QoL) among children aged 5-6 years old.

Materials and methods Oral examination of 310 children admitted to a paediatric dentistry clinic was performed by using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System II (ICDAS-II) and the QoL was assessed using the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale. A nested case-control study was conducted with all 104 QoL-unaffected children as the controls and a random sample of 104 QoL-affected children as the cases. Relative risk (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) values were calculated to interpret potential associations.

Results Gender distribution was similar by case controls (52.9% vs 51.0% were females, respectively). Early childhood caries (ECC) was detected in 78.8% of cases and 19.2% of controls. In binary analysis of the QoL (with a cutpoint of 2), low parental education, having a sibling, dental visit history for complaints and irregular/no toothbrushing were detected as significant predictors of poor QoL (p value <0.001). The RR of negative impact on QoL was fourfold (95% CI 2.64-5.69) among children having ECC, revealing a significant upward trend of impaired QoL with increasing ICDAS-II scores (t = 13.323; p value <0.001).

Conclusion All patients should be evaluated thoroughly for social and psychological problems, besides functional and aesthetic in dental visits.

Key points

  • Risk of negative impact on quality of life were more than four times higher among children with ECC.

  • A strong association between a poor quality of life and having extensive dental caries according to the ICDAS categorisation.

  • Assessment of quality of life should be part of routine dental clinical practice, to improve psychological and social wellbeing of the child, while restoring functional and aesthetic problems.

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Acknowledgements

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Hacettepe University Ethics Commission. No funding was received for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hacettepe University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Ankara, 06230, Turkey

    Cansu Ozsin Ozler

  2. University of Cagliari, Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, Monserrato, 09042, Italy

    Pierluigi Cocco

  3. Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Ankara, 06100, Turkey

    Banu Cakir

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  2. Pierluigi Cocco
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  3. Banu Cakir
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Contributions

All authors conceived the ideas; Cansu Ozsin Ozler collected the data and established clinical exams of study participants; Cansu Ozsin Ozler, Pierluigi Cocco and Banu Cakir analysed the data, wrote the article, revised the article and approved the version to be published.

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Correspondence to Cansu Ozsin Ozler.

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Ozsin Ozler, C., Cocco, P. & Cakir, B. Dental caries and quality of life among preschool children: a hospital-based nested case-control study. Br Dent J (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-2317-9

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