Adolescents' and Parents' Perspective on Impact of Dental Caries and Malocclusion on Quality of Life.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of malocclusion and dental caries on oral health- related quality of life (OHRQoL) in adolescents and the differences between adoles- cents' self-reports and caregiver's proxy reports. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,612 Brazil- ian adolescents and 1,168 caregivers. Adolescents completed the Child Perceptions Questionnaire and caregivers completed the Parental-Caregiver Perceptions Question- naire. Malocclusion (dental esthetic index) and dental caries (DMFT) were documented. Multiple Poisson regression was conducted. Results: A self-reported model demonstrated that adolescents with malocclusion had an impact on emotional (PR=1.14; 95 percent confidence interval [95% CI=1.03 to 1.26) and social domains (PR=1.35; 95% CI=1.20 to 1.50). Dental caries had an impact on the emotional domain (prevalence ratio [PR]=1.34; 95% CI=1.21 to 1.48). The caregiver model showed that malocclusion had an impact on oral symptoms (PR=1.12; 95% CI=1.03 to 1.21), functional limitations (PR=1.18; 95% CI= 1.05 to 1.33), and emotional (PR=1.23; 95% CI=1.10 to 1.54) and social domains (PR=1.22; 95% CI=1.02 to 1.45). Those with dental caries felt an impact on oral symptoms (PR=1.09; 95% CI=1.01 to 1.19), functional limitations (PR=1.18; 95% CI=1.05 to 1.33) and social domains (PR=1.24; 95% CI=1.04 to 1.45). Conclusions: Adolescents reported a negative impact on OHRQoL both in relation to dental caries and malocclusion. Caregivers observed the impact of oral conditions on more domains than the adolescents reported.