Volume 24, Issue 106, November - December, 2020

Dental caries and its impact on 6-8-year pediatric dental patients and their families

Mohammad Abdul Baseer^1♦, Nawaf Mohammed Bin Jabr², Fahad Saleh Alshamrani², Abdulaziz Khalid Alharbi², Fahad Mohammed Alotaibi², Salman Awad Bin Tuwalah², Naif Saed Alharthi², Ali Hassan Alharbi²

¹Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Dentistry, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh-11681, Saudi Arabia
²General Dentist, Private Dental Practice, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Dentistry, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh-11681, Saudi Arabia; Email: basheer.dr@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Dental caries negatively affects children and their families which subsequently affects oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Hence the aim of the study was to assess the impact of dental caries on the OHRQoL using Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) questionnaire, and measurement of Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST) index of 6-8-year-old Pediatric patients. Materials and method: Pediatric patients (n=1065) and their parents (mother/father) seeking dental care in Riyadh Elm university dental clinics participated in the study. The Arabic version of the ECOHIS questionnaire were filled out by the parents and returned to the researchers in the clinics' waiting area. Following which, a single examiner performed the clinical examinations using the CAST Index. Descriptive statistics of frequency distribution, percentages, mean, and standard deviation values were calculated. An independent t-test was applied to compare the mean ECOHIS score between uncavitated and cavitated lesions. Results: The prevalence of dental caries (CAST codes 4-7) was 94.5%. The teeth having CAST CODE, 4-7, showed significantly higher ECOHIS score indicating higher impact on child's difficulty in eating (p=0.004), irritability or frustration (p≤0.001), avoidance of smiling or laughing (p≤0.001), and avoidance of talking (p≤0.001) compared to the CAST CODE 0-3, 8. Similarly, among the teeth having CAST CODE 4-7, the family impact scale showed significantly higher parental distress [parent been upset (p≤0.001) and parents felt guilty (p≤0.001)] and family functions [taken time off from work (p≤0.001) and financial impact (p≤0.001)] scores compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: Primary and permanent molar teeth with cavitated dentine carious lesions with and without pulpal involvement (CAST code 4-7) impacts negatively on the 6-8‐year pediatric patients and their families.

Keywords: CAST, Dental caries, Pediatric patients, OHRQoL

Medical Science, 2020, 24(106), 4763-4771

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