Abstract
Dental caries has significant negative impacts on the lives of children and young people. Whilst the impacts on children’s oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) have been increasingly investigated, the effect on children’s overall wellbeing remains largely unknown. Data were obtained from a survey conducted across four cities in the Netherlands. Children and their parents completed a series of questionnaires, which included Dutch versions of a caries-specific pediatric measure of OHRQoL (CARIES-QC-NL) and a generic pediatric health utility measure (CHU9D-NL). The participating children underwent dental examinations to determine their caries status. A total of 486 11-year-old children participated in the study, of which 184 had caries experience (38%). The mean number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) was 0.71. The CARIES-QC-NL was found to have statistically significant correlations with the DMFT and CHU9D-NL. There were no statistically significant correlations between the CHU9D and the clinical variables. The CARIES-QC-NL had acceptable internal consistency and construct validity in this population despite the low prevalence of active caries. A relationship was demonstrated between OHRQoL and generic wellbeing in this population. Despite this, the CHU9D did not show any correlation with the clinical data, which may limit its application in studies of the impact of dental caries.
Highlights
Dental caries is a prevalent disease amongst children and can cause chronic pain, infection and in some cases may lead to emergency hospitalization [1,2]
This study aimed to identify the extent to which caries-specific quality of life is related to generic wellbeing, as measured with the CHU9D-NL in Dutch 11-year old children and to validate the CARIES-QC-NL in this population
This study aimed to assess the relationship between oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and general wellbeing in Dutch schoolchildren and to validate the CARIES-QC-NL in this population
Summary
Dental caries is a prevalent disease amongst children and can cause chronic pain, infection and in some cases may lead to emergency hospitalization [1,2]. A systematic review reported 9% of children worldwide to have untreated dental caries in their primary teeth, highlighting it as a major health problem globally [3,4]. Dental caries has a significant impact on children and their families. Toothache was reported by 18% of 12-year-olds and 15% of 15-year-olds in the UK, with a higher prevalence of up to 30% in younger children from deprived areas [5,6]. In the Netherlands, 12% of 5-year-olds were found to have encountered toothache at least once in their life. For 11-year-olds this percentage was much higher at
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