Oral Health-related Quality of Life of Children with Early Childhood Caries before and after Receiving Complete Oral Rehabilitation under General Anesthesia

Abstract

Introduction: Early childhood caries (ECC) significantly affects the quality of life of children due to recurrent pain, infection, and other associated problems. Aim and objective: To assess the change in oral health-related quality of life of children aged <5 years undergoing complete oral rehabilitation under general anesthesia. Materials and methods: A total of 50 healthy children affected with ECC were enrolled for the present study. Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of every child was assessed by interviewing the mothers using a prevalidated Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) questionnaire one day prior to the treatment appointment and comparing the scores with those at 1 and 3 months post-treatment to evaluate the changes in the OHRQoL, if any and assess the stability of the changes. Results: The results revealed a statistically significant reduction in Ouality of Life (QoL) scores of all the domains and total ECOHIS scores between baseline and 1 month, and baseline and 3 months. Conclusion: The oral health-related quality of life showed a significant improvement after complete oral rehabilitation under general anesthesia and the improvement persisted beyond the immediate post-treatment period.