Impact of Dental Caries on Quality of Life of School Children

ABSTRACT

Objective: To estimate the impact of dental caries on the oral health-related quality of life of school children of public schools of Tubarão, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study on a sample of 42310-15 years old students was carried out. The prevalence of dental caries, dental trauma and malocclusion was observed by oral examination based on WHO criteria. The Oral Impact on Daily Performance indicator was used to collect data about the impact on quality of life related to children's oral health. The Chi-square test was used for bivariate analysis with significance levels set at p<0.05. Prevalence ratios (PR) and confidence intervals (95%) were estimated using log-linear Poisson regression with a robust estimator. Results: The prevalence of dental caries was 55.5%. The prevalence of impact on oral health related quality of life was 45.6%. OIDP dimensions significantly associated with dental caries were eating [PR = 1.45 (95%CI 1.06; 2.00)] (p = 0.021), sleeping [(PR = 2.29 (95%CI 1.15; 4.56)] (p = 0.018) and performing daily activities [PR = 2.57 (95%CI 1.06; 6.22)] (p = 0.036) after adjusting for gender, age and presence of dental trauma and malocclusion. Conclusion: Dental caries was found to be significantly associated with oral health-related quality of life of children in activities such as eating, sleeping, and performing daily activities.