Case-control study examining the impact of oral health problems on the quality of life of the families of preschoolers

Dental pain associated with untreated dental caries and sociodemographic factors in 5-year-old children

Background

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dental pain and to examine its association with untreated dental caries in 5-year-old children.

Material and Methods

This was a cross-sectional study of 261 5-year-old children in Northeast Brazil. Parents answered questions about their socioeconomic conditions and their children’s toothache. Trained dentists assessed dental caries using the decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmf-t) index. Binary logistic regression models were used to estimate the unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and the confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the association of dental pain with covariates. The significance level was set at five percent.

Results

The prevalence of dental pain was 28.7%, and 48.2% of children had untreated dental caries. Dental pain was associated with untreated dental caries (OR=5.7; 95% CI: 3.1-10.53; p<0.001) and living with one parent or other family members (OR=2.3; 95% CI: 1.2-4.4; p=0.008). Sociodemographic factors were not associated with dental pain.

Conclusions

The prevalence of dental pain in preschool children is high, and this condition is associated with both untreated dental caries and living with one parent or other family members.

Key words:Toothache, socioeconomic factors, dental caries.

TRANSLATION, CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE BRAZILIAN VERSIONOF THE PAIN CATASTROPHIZING SCALE-PARENTS

OBJECTIVE

In Brazil, there is no scale to assess parental catastrophizing about their child's pain. This study aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Pain Catastrophizing Scale-Parents to the Brazilian Portuguese language, as well as to preliminarily evaluate its psychometric properties among parents/guardians of children with and without a toothache.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 237 parents/other relatives of 237 children. Across-cultural adaptation of the scale into Brazilian Portuguese was carried out according to the universalistic approach. To assess the reliability and validity of the scale, parents/other relatives reported on the child's toothache and filled out the Brazilian versions of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale-Parents and the Dental Discomfort Questionnaire.

RESULTS

There was semantic equivalence with the original version after minor modifications. TheCronbach's alpha for the 13 items of the scale was 0.83, and the respective test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.63 to 0.97. The scores obtained from the Pain Catastrophizing Scale-Parents and the Dental Discomfort Questionnaire had a low correlation (rho=0.25; p<0.001). Thetotal score of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale-Parents differed significantly (p<0.001) in children with a toothache at night (median: 3.0, 25-75 percentile: 25.0-35.5) compared to those who did not have a toothache at night (25.5; 20.0-31.0).

CONCLUSIONS

The Brazilian version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale-Parents was acceptable in this preliminary evaluation and can be used in Brazilian clinical and research practice.

Association between psychological factors, socio-demographic conditions, oral habits and anterior open bite in five-year-old children

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to evaluate association between psychological factors, socio-demographic conditions, oral habits and anterior open bite in five-year-old preschool children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 764 pairs of children and parents/caregivers in preschools. The parents/caregivers answered questionnaires addressing oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), sense of coherence, locus of control, oral habits and socio-demographic characteristics. The children answered a self-report questionnaire addressing OHRQoL and were submitted to a clinical examination for the anterior open bite by examiners. Descriptive analysis was conducted, followed by Poisson's regression analysis.

RESULTS

The prevalence of anterior open bite was 15.2%. The following variables remained significantly associated with anterior open bite: pacifier use (PR = 7.09; 95% CI: 4.06-12.39), attending a public preschool (PR = 2.40; 95% CI: 1.68-3.43), digit sucking (PR = 2.15; 95% CI: 1.27-3.62), greater number of residents in the home (PR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.18-2.36) and impact on OHRQoL according to child's report (PR = 1.56; 95% CI: 1.11-2.20).

CONCLUSIONS

Anterior open bite was associated with OHRQoL according to the children's reports. Moreover, attending a public preschool, a greater number of residents in the home, digit sucking and pacifier sucking were associated with this type of malocclusion.

Relationship between foot posture and dental malocclusions in children aged 6 to 9 years: A cross-sectional study

The aim of this study was to determine the association, if any, between foot posture and dental malocclusions in the anteroposterior plane, in children.The study population consisted of 189 children (95 boys and 94 girls) aged 6 to 9 years. In every case, previous informed consent was requested and obtained from the parent/guardian and the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Málaga (CEUMA 26/2015H).This observational, descriptive, cross-sectional analysis is based on a study population (STROBE). Qualified personnel conducted a podiatric and dental examination of each child, recording the Clarke angle and the foot posture index (FPI) as an outcomes measure in the feet, and also dental malocclusions, according to Angle classification.A significant correlation was observed for the FPI scores (for right foot) as well as the Clarke angle (for right foot), in relation to dental malocclusions as determined by Angle classification (P < .001). Of all the supinated feet analyzed, 38.46% were Class II according to Angle classification, and none were Class III. Of the pronated feet, 48.57% were Class III, 42.85% were Class I, and 8.57% were Class II.The Clarke angle decreases with the progression from Class I to III, whereas the FPI increases with that from Class I to III. These findings suggest there is a relation between the Clarke angle and FPI, on the one hand, and dental malocclusion on the other.

Oral problems and quality of life of preschool children: self-reports of children and perception of parents/caregivers

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between oral health problems and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of preschool children according to both self-reports and the reports of parents/caregivers. A school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted with 769 preschool children and their parents/caregivers. The OHRQoL was evaluated using the Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for Five-Year-Old Children (SOHO-5). Based on logistic regression for complex samples, the following variables were found to be associated with poorer OHRQoL in the parent/caregiver version: toothache (OR = 6.77; 95% CI: 3.95-11.59); consequences of untreated dental caries (OR = 2.69; 95% CI: 1.27-5.70); and anterior open bite (OR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.13-3.56). The following variables were associated with poorer OHRQoL in the child self-report version: toothache (OR = 3.34; 95% CI: 2.11-5.29); cavitated lesions (anterior teeth) (OR = 2.20; 95% CI: 1.26-3.84); occurrence of traumatic dental injury (OR = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.19-2.61); and anterior open bite (OR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.16-3.29). We conclude that children with dental caries (or its sequelae) had poorer OHRQoL. Having experienced a traumatic dental injury and having a malocclusion were also associated with a poorer OHRQoL.