Oral Health-related Quality of Life of Children with Oligodontia

Objectives: To assess the functional and psychosocial impact of oligodontia in children aged 11 to 14 years. Methods: Children aged 11 to 14 years with oligodontia were recruited from the orthodontic clinics at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre Traveling Clinics in four northern Ontario communities when they presented for orthodontic evaluation. All completed a copy of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire for 11 to 14 year-olds, a measure of the functional and psychosocial impact of oral disorders. The number and pattern of missing teeth for each child were obtained from charts and radiographs. Results: Thirty six children were included in the study. Their average age was 12.6 years, 56% were female. The 36 subjects had 244 missing teeth. The number of missing teeth ranged from one to fourteen (Mean=6.8). Sixty nine percent of the children had 6 or more missing teeth. Just over three-quarters of the subjects reported experiencing one or more functional and psychosocial impacts “Often” or “Everyday/almost everyday”: 28% percent had oral symptoms at this level of frequency, 61%% experienced functional limitations, 19% reported impacts on emotional well-being and 17% impacts on social well-being. There were no age or gender differences in the prevalence, extent or severity of impacts. Correlations between scale and sub-scale scores and the number of missing teeth were weak and non-significant. However, children with the most missing teeth and the most missing anterior teeth had the highest CPQ11-14 scores. When compared with other clinical groups, the children with oligodontia had worse oral health-related quality of life than children with dental decay and malocclusion but better oral health-related quality of life than children with oro-facial conditions. Conclusions: Children with oligodontia experience substantial functional and psychosocial impacts from the condition that is more severe than the impact of caries and malocclusion.