Gingivitis influences oral health-related quality of life in adolescents: findings from a cohort study.

INTRODUCTION

Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is affected by different clinical conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of gingivitis on OHRQoL in adolescents.

METHODOLOGY

This cohort study consisted of a random sample of 1,134 schoolchildren enrolled during 2012, in Santa Maria, Brazil. After two years, 743 adolescents were follow-up (response rate: 65.5%). Clinical, socioeconomic and OHRQoL data were collected. OHRQoL was assessed by the short Brazilian version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 11-14 (CPQ11-14), and gingival bleeding through Community Periodontal Index. Gingivitis was considered with the presence of 15% or more bleeding sites. Poisson regression models were used to evaluate the association between gingivitis and overall and domain-specific CPQ11-14 scores. Prevalence of gingivitis at baseline was considered the main predictor for the OHRQoL at follow-up.

RESULTS

Gingivitis at baseline was associated with higher overall CPQ 11-14 score (RR = 1.07; 95%CI 1.01 - 1.14), and emotional well-being (RR = 1.17; 95%CI 1.04 - 1.31), independently of other oral conditions and socioeconomic variables.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate that gingivitis negatively impacts the adolescents' OHRQoL. Moreover, gender, maternal schooling and household income were also associated with OHRQoL.