Relationship between Quality of Life and Oral Health Status and Dental Caries in Children Aged 8 to 10 Years Old in Shiraz

Oral and dental health is one of the most important factors that affect the quality of life of children. It relates to oral health and evaluates the physical, social, and psychological effects caused by the state of oral health. This study shows the impact of oral and dental health in children aged 8 to 10 years old in Shiraz on their quality of life.

The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted in a cross-sectional way on 315 8-10-year-old boys and girls in Shiraz in 2017. People were clinically examined and the DMFT/dmft index was recorded for each one to evaluate their oral health status. To analyze the data, SPSS 20 software and Spearman's correlation coefficient tests, T-test, and one-way ANOVA were used (p value < 0.05).

Mean Child-OIDP score was 11.41 with a standard deviation of 13.55. The Child-OIDP index had no significant relationship with children's age (p value = 0.42). The average Child-OIDP index was not significantly different between boys and girls (p value = 0.27). There was a direct and significant relationship between the average child-OIDP index and the caries index of primary teeth (dmft) and the total caries index in the mouth (DMFT+dmft) (p value = 0.000).

The results showed the significant impact of oral and dental diseases in reducing the quality of life of children. Therefore, to increase the quality of life-related to oral health in children, necessary measures should be taken to improve their access to treatment and prevention.