Effects of dental esthetics on psycho-social wellbeing among students of health Sciences

Abstract

To determine the effects of dental aesthetics and socio-demographics on psychosocial well-being among students of health sciences. The analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at a private tertiary care health centre in Karachi from March to August 2018, and comprised medical, dental and pharmacy students. Data was collected using a structured adapted questionnaire comprising Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire and Aesthetic Component of Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need which was graded from group 1 to group 5. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Of the 385 subjects, 122(31.7%) were males and 263(68.3%) were females. The overall mean age was 20.6±1.70 years. There were 177(46%) medial students, 125(32.5%) dental and 83(21.6%) pharmacy undergraduates. Dental aesthetics concern and social impact factors were significantly different between the genders (p<0.05). The two factors were also significantly different with respect to years of study (p<0.05). Significant difference was observed between aesthetic concern and age (p<0.05). Dental self-confidence the highest in group 1 with a mean of 2.6±1.02, and the lowest in group 5 with a mean of 2.0±1.16 of Aesthetic Component of Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need. The psycho-social life was affected by poor dental aesthetics, indicating that dental therapy and cosmetic treatments had an influence over psychological well-being of individuals.