Association of Dental Caries and Oral Health Impact Profile in 12-Year-Old School Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The healthcare today is undergoing a paradigm shift from biomedical to biopsychosocial approaches. This holds true for dentistry as well, as the ultimate goal of oral health does not mean the mere absence of disease, rather the patients mental and social well-being. Oral health status in children is traditionally assessed by oral examination. But with the emergence of psychosocial factors affecting oral health and vice-versa, it is necessary to assess the subjective component of oral health in order to get a complete picture. Oral health related quality of life questionnaire can be used as a tool for the assessment of the impact of oral health on various dimensions of subjective well-being. Aim: To determine the association between dental caries and oral health impact profile among 12-year-old school children in Ernakulam. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 on a representative sample of 281 school children aged 12 years from Ernakulam district. The data regarding caries experience were collected through oral examination using DMFT and deft indices. Oral health related quality of life was evaluated using a self-administered Child Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (COHIP). Descriptive statistics were computed for continuous data, whereas for categorical data, the respective frequencies were taken. Pearson’s correlation was used to test the correlation between each domain of questionnaire and decay (D) component of DMFT. Results: The mean COHIP score obtained for this population was 101.58±15.66. The prevalence of dental caries in this population was found to be 71.5%. The mean DMFT and deft scores did not have any significant correlation with the domains of the COHIP questionnaire. The association between the domain school environment and decay component (D) of DMFT was found to be significant (p-value – 0.024). Conclusion: The results are conclusive that dental caries has a negative impact on the oral health related quality of life, thereby leading to loss of school hours and adversely affecting the student’s academic performance.

Keywords

• caries experience
• children
• oral health related quality of life