The assessment of oral health related quality of life for children with malocclusion in comparison with their mothers

Abstract EN

BBackground : The quality of life measures have been widely developed and used in dentistry because of their importance in measuring the child and public perceptions for oral health.

The purpose of this study was to compare the responses to child perceptions questionnaire for measuring oral health related quality of life and their mother perceptions questionnaire.

Materials and methods : The study was conducted on 80 pairs of mothers and their children, aged 11 to 14 years ; with malocclusion according to orthodontic index of treatment need dental health component.

The children and their mothers completed the questionnaire independently.

Results : The mean ratings were similar for total scores (children, 19.9 ; mothers, 19.1), oral symptoms (children, 4.9 ; mothers, 4.2), and social well-being (children, 3.9 ; mothers, 4.4).

However, the mothers group had a lower mean score for functional limitations (children, 5.1 ; mothers, 3.2) and a higher mean score for emotional well-being (children, 5.3 ; mothers,6.8).

The correlations between children's and mothers' responses ranged from rs = 0.652 for emotional well-being to rs = 0.422 for functional limitations.

There were good correlations between their responses to global (rs = 0.622) and life overall (rs = 0.499) questions Conclusions : The maternal opinions were similar to those of their children concerning the impact of malocclusion on overall aspects of their children life, but the mothers overestimated the emotional impact of malocclusion on their children's life.