Impact of dental caries and its treatment on the quality of life of 12- to 15-year-old adolescents in Benin, Nigeria.

Abstract

To assess the impact of caries and its treatment on quality of life (QoL) in 12- to 15-year-old children in Benin, Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional study involving 1790 children. Clinical examinations were conducted using the WHO criteria for diagnosis and coding of caries. The Decayed Missing Filled Teeth score of each child was calculated. The child Oral Impact on Daily Performance questionnaire was used to assess the QoL of children with caries pre- and post-treatment. Associations between age, sex, and socio-economic status and caries were analysed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of caries in the study population was 21.9%. Approximately 57% of children with caries reported negative impact on their QoL pre-treatment. Eating (47.6%) was the most affected domain. The mean pre-treatment QoL score was 8.40 ± 10.34. Four weeks post-treatment, only 1.12% of participants reported negative impact of caries treatment on their QoL. The mean post-treatment QoL score was 0.22 ± 0.91 There was a significant difference between pre- and post-treatment QoL scores (P = 0.0001) with significant changes in all the eight domains studied. Age, sex, and socio-economic status had no significant impact on QoL pre- and post-treatment. Caries had a significant impact on the QoL of adolescents. Its treatment resulted in marked improvement in QoL.