The Impact on Quality of Life of Dental Caries and Malocclusion

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the impact on quality of life of decayed, missing and filled teeth and malocclusion traits in adolescents attending a school in Florianópolis, Brazil. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out. Ethical approval and consent was obtained. It included all 315 adolescents from both sexes aged 14 to 18 years. Data were collected using a clinical oral examination and a structured interview of participants. A trained dental epidemiologist conducted all dental examinations following a strict protocol. The subjects were examined for dental caries and malocclusion. Dental caries status was assessed following the WHO 1997 criteria. Malocclusion was assessed using the Dental Aesthetic Index - DAI. The CPI probe was used to measure the size of any diastema, incisal overjet, overbite and incisal spaces. Oral impacts were assessed using a socio-dental indicator (OIDP). Data analysis included multiple logistic regression. Results: The response rate was 95%. Kappa values were greater than 0.60. 34.7% of participants reported at least one impact in daily life due to oral health status. The result of stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis selected anterior maxillary irregularity as the only significant trait of malocclusion related to reporting an oral impact on daily life. Children who had anterior maxillary irregularities were 2.6 (95%C.I. 1.5,4.6) times more likely to report impacts on their daily life than children who had none (P=0.001). None of the components of the DMF index were significantly related to having an impact on daily life (P>0.05). Age was a significant determinant to reporting oral impacts on daily life (P=0.015), but sex was not (P>0.05). All results were adjusted by age. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that anterior maxillary irregularity had an impact on quality of life in adolescents.