Sustainability of Improvement in Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Children After Dental Treatment

PURPOSE: Dental treatment has been associated with improvement in the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children. There is little evidence of whether the effect of treatment is sustainable over time or not. The aim of this study was to determine whether the effect of dental treatment on OHRQoL is maintained or diminishes over time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A consecutive sample of parents of 47 children between 2 and 6 years who received comprehensive dental treatment at a postgraduate dental clinic were recruited. Parents completed the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) prior to treatment and at 1 and 4 months after treatment. Parents were also asked three global questions. Score changes (overall and for each section) between time points were analyzed by a repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni tests. RESULTS: The children’s mean age was 4.7 ± 1.1, and 60% were females. ECOHIS scores were significantly improved from baseline (22.2 ± 6.9) to 1 month after treatment (8.7 ± 6.8) and were further improved at 4 months after treatment (1.9 ± 2.7), P < 0.001, with large effect sizes (2.8 for the child impact section and 2.2 for the family impact section). Parents’ perception of changes in the OHRQoL of their children obtained from a global question indicated an improvement in OHRQoL that was sustained over the follow-up period; at 1-month and 4-month follow-up, 89% and 94% of mothers reported that their child’s oral health improved a lot after dental treatment, respectively. CONCLUSION: The impact of dental treatment on OHRQoL continued to remarkably improve during the 4 months following dental treatment.