Oral health related quality of life of homeless people

The impact of oral health on quality life has been widely studied, however limited data exists regarding the homeless population. Improving quality of life is an essential component of rehabiltation process. This study was performed in a private rehabilitation center in Kiryat Shlomo Objectives: To describe oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) and to asses possible predictors of OHRQoL in a homeless population in a rehabilitation center. Material and methods: this cross sectional study involved both clinical examination and interview. Data was collected from 31 russian speaking homeless in the center. The examination included periodontal status, dental status and treatment needs, Denture wearing and need for dentures according to WHO protocol. The OHRQoL was assesed by OHIP 14 (Russian version) questionnaire. Results: The OHRQoL impact was high. 71% (22 persons) reported one or more ompact at the threshhold of farely often or very often. Of those with impact, 6.5%(2persons) reported only one impact. Physical pain and physical disability were the most commonly reported subscales 64.5%(20persons) and 51.6%(16persons) respectively. From all clinical and socioeconomic variables, which were collected only need for denture, upper and lower were found as predictors of OHRQoL in Linear regression. Conclusions: Dental treatment should be considered as an essential part of the homeless rehabilitation. A major effort shoud be done to provide dentures to this group.