Impact of treated/untreated traumatic dental injuries on quality of life among Brazilian schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The joint evaluation of oral health-related quality of life and traumatic dental injury (TDI) is an important tool for setting priorities in public oral health programs. The purpose of the present study was to compare the impact of treated TDI, untreated TDI, and absence of TDI on the quality of life of schoolchildren aged 11-14 years.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out with 668 schoolchildren from the city of Diamantina, Brazil. The clinical examination involved the determination of the presence and type of TDI based on the criteria proposed by O'Brien. Malocclusion was evaluated using the criteria of the Dental Aesthetic Index, and dental caries was diagnosed using the DMFT/dmft index. The impact of TDI on quality of life was assessed using the Child Oral Impact on Daily Performances (Child-OIDP). The outcome was the absence (Child-OIDP = 0) or presence (Child-OIDP ≥ 1) of impact on quality of life.

RESULTS

The prevalence of TDI was 34.3%. Schoolchildren with untreated TDI experienced a greater impact on eating (P = 0.016) and smiling (P < 0.001) in comparison with those without TDI. No significant differences were found in the Child-OIDP score between schoolchildren with treated TDI and those without trauma. The unadjusted and adjusted results of the Poisson regression analysis of the Child-OIDP demonstrated that schoolchildren with untreated TDI were more likely to experience an impact on 'eating and enjoying food', 'smiling and showing teeth', and 'overall score'.

CONCLUSIONS

Untreated TDI was associated with a negative impact on the quality of life of schoolchildren, whereas treated TDI and absence of TDI were not associated with impact on quality of life.