Association between sense of coherence and oral health-related quality of life among toddlers.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between sense of coherence (SOC) and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among children aged one to three years. PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 276 mother-child pairs randomly selected from the city of Diamantina, Brazil. METHOD: Information was obtained on socio-demographic factors. The short version of Antonovsky's sense of coherence scale (SOC 13) and the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) were administered. The children were examined for dental caries. Statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics, the calculation of Spearman's correlation coefficients and adjusted Poisson regression models. RESULTS: SOC was significantly associated with the child's OHRQoL in the multivariate analysis. Children of mothers with high SOC (PR 0.96; 95%CI 0.93,0.98; p=0.045) had a lower prevalence of a negative impact on OHRQoL. Children with severe dental caries had a greater prevalence of a negative impact on OHRQoL (PR 2.53; 95%CI 1.77,3.62; p⟨0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal SOC could be a psychosocial determinant of the OHRQoL of children aged one to three years. Severe dental caries was associated with poorer quality of life.

Association between malocclusion and dental caries in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM: To evaluate the scientific evidence regarding the association between malocclusion and dental caries in adolescents. METHODS: Searches were conducted of six electronic databases, complemented by manual searching of the reference lists of the selected articles and grey literature. Two independent reviewers performed the selection of the articles, data extraction and the evaluation of the risks of bias through an assessment of methodological quality. Meta-analysis was performed considering the mean decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index for caries and the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) for malocclusion. Heterogeneity was tested using the I2 statistic and a random effect model was employed. Summary effect measures were calculated as differences in means. RESULTS: The initial search retrieved 2644 studies, only 15 of which were selected for full-text analysis. Four cross-sectional studies were included in the qualitative systematic review. Only one of these studies found no association between malocclusion and dental caries. The meta-analysis of three studies demonstrated that a lower DAI value was significantly associated with a lower mean DMFT index, except for the comparison of DAI 26-30 vs. 31-35. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the studies analysed, the scientific evidence indicates an association between malocclusion and dental caries.

Maternal identification of dental caries lesions in their children aged 1-3 years.

AIM: To analyse the maternal identification of different stages of dental caries in children aged 1-3 years. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 274 children and their mothers. The mothers answered a questionnaire on the occurrence of dental caries in their children and completed questions addressing their demographic/socio-economic status. The oral examination of the children was performed using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System. Descriptive, Chi square test and Poisson regression statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: The prevalence of initial and established/severe dental caries lesions by age were: 1 year (23.2 and 24.2%), 2 years (17.9 and 55.7%) and 3 years (23.3 and 60.3%) respectively. Significant associations between clinical examinations and the mothers' reports were observed among children aged 1 year old who had initial stage caries lesions (p = 0.006) and in children aged 1, 2 and 3 years old who had established/severe stage caries lesions (p < 0.001). After adjustment for confounding variables it was found that mothers were more able to identify dental caries both at initial (PR 4.01, 95% CI 1.35-11.94) and established/severe stages (PR 9.14, 95% CI 2.49-33.56) in children aged 1 year old. In children aged 2 and 3 years, this identification was more evident in the established/severe stage (2 years, PR 2.98, 95% CI 1.42-6.26; 3 years, PR 2.75, 95% CI 1.09-6.93). CONCLUSIONS: Mothers of children aged 1 year old identified dental caries at initial and established/severe stages. Mothers of children aged 2 and 3 years identified dental caries only at established/severe stages.

Effect of dark discolouration and enamel/dentine fracture on the oral health-related quality of life of pre-schoolers.

AIM: To determine the effect of different types of dental trauma on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among pre-school children. METHODS: Four hundred fifty-nine Brazilian pre-schoolers aged 3-5 years were submitted to an oral examination in the school environment for the evaluation of dental trauma using the criteria proposed by Andreasen et al. (2007). Parents answered a questionnaire on the OHRQoL of the children using the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) and another one on socio-demographic characteristics of the children and their families. The questionnaires were sent to the parents to be answered at home. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney test and Poisson regression were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Children with dark discolouration and enamel-dentine fracture without pulp exposure had higher mean ECOHIS scores than those without these alterations. The multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that pre-school children with dark discolouration (PR 1.79; 95% CI 1.24-2.58) and enamel-dentine fracture without pulp exposure (PR 1.89; 95% CI 1.22-2.92) had a higher impact on quality of life than those without these alterations. CONCLUSION: Dark discolouration and enamel-dentine fracture without pulp exposure were associated with a negative impact on the life of pre-schoolers.