Caries prevalence, severity, and 3‐year increment, and their impact upon New Zealand adolescents' oral‐health‐related quality of life

Abstract

To examine dental caries experience among New Zealand adolescents and determine the nature of caries-associated differences in oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among adolescents. Follow-up was conducted of a random sample of 430 children first examined in 2003 at age 13, when they completed the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ(11-14) ). At age 16, 255 (59.3% of the baseline sample) were re-examined and again completed the CPQ(11-14) . Caries prevalence (1 + DMFS) rose from 68% to 79.2%; mean DMFS rose from 2.9 (SD 4.7) to 3.6 (SD 4.8), and the prevalence of high caries experience (5 + DMFS) rose from 20.0% to 40.8%. The 3-year mean net caries increment of 0.5 surfaces (SD 2.6) was dominated by occlusal surfaces. At both ages, overall CPQ(11-14 ) scores, as well as emotional well-being subscale scores, were significantly higher for those with DMFS values of 5 or more. Caries experience increased over the three years; this age group is caries-active. Dental caries affects adolescents' OHRQoL, although not as strongly as maybe expected.