Evaluation of the impact of children's oral health on their family quality of life in Amol, Iran

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of oral and dental health on the family’s quality of life and it’s relation with DMFT, dmft, malocclusion and presence or absence of trauma in students. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 210 physically and emotionally healthy students, aged 9-11, were selected from primary schools of Amol, Iran, using simple random sampling technique. FIS (Family Impact Scale) questionnaire was completed by each student. DMFT and dmft indexes, malocclusion (based on Angle’s classification) and presence or absence of trauma were recorded and analyzed by SPSS 11.5, using ANOVA and Spearman’s correlation coefficient at a significance level of 95%. The dmft index had a significant relationship with the overall FIS questionnaire score (p value < 0.03). There were no significant relationships between economic condition (p value = 0.2), birth rank (p value = 0.1), DMFT (p value = 0.1), age (p value = 0.9), and the number of children in the family (p value = 0.7) and the total score of FIS questionnaire. Spearman’s correlation coefficient showed a significant correlation between age and dmft (p value < 0.001). Under the limitations of the present study, decay of deciduous teeth had a significant effect on quality of life of families. However, there were no significant relationships between malocclusion and trauma and family’s quality of life.