Abstract:
Malocclusion has the potential of interfering in the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL)
of preschool children, regardless of the scarcity of evidence indicating impairment of
functional, psychosocial, and health perception aspects. This study aimed to measure the
relationship between malocclusion and OHRQoL in a representative sample of preschool
children from Salvador, in the Brazilian state of Bahia. From August to November 2018,
calibrated examiners assessed 1566 children for the presence of malocclusion, applying the
Foster and Hamilton index. The children’s tutors filled in a sociodemographic and health
questionnaire and an Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (B-ECOHIS) questionnaire.
Statistical analysis involved dichotomizing and describing the variables, the Pearson’s chisquared test, assessing the interaction between dental caries and binomial logistic regression,
considering a significance level of 5%. Malocclusion prevalence reached 26%, open bite
(13.9%) and deep bite (11.1%). Negative effects on OHRQoL were reported by 32.8% of the
tutors, in the child impact section (27.1%), the areas of symptoms (20.9%) and function
(17.1%), and in the family section of parental stress (17.9%). Malocclusion and the general
OHRQoL (p=0.008), children’s OHRQoL (p=0.066), and family’s OHRQoL in case of caries
(p=0.015) were associated in the bivariate analysis. In the crude association, only general
OHRQoL (OR=0.71; CI 95% 0.56-0.92) and family’s OHRQoL in case of caries (OR=0.58; CI
95% 0.38-0.90) had statistical significance. However, after covariate adjustment, none of the
assessed models maintained statistical significance: general OHRQoL (OR=0.83, CI 95% 0.58-
1.17), children’s OHRQoL (OR=0.89, CI 95% 0.61-1.28), family’s OHRQoL in case of caries
(OR=0.76, CI 95% 0.38-1.53), and family’s OHRQoL in absence of caries (OR=1.08, CI 95%
1.59-1.96). We did not find further evidence in the relationship between malocclusion and
OHRQoL among preschool children in Salvador, Bahia. Malocclusion and the negative effects
over OHRQoL also had low prevalence.
