Tooth erosion with low severity does not impact child oral health-related quality of life.
BACKGROUND
Prevalence data about tooth erosion has attracted increasing attention in the dental community; however, no study has addressed the impact of this condition on child oral health-related quality of life (COHRQoL). This study assessed the impact of tooth erosion on COHRQoL.


METHODS
This study followed a cross-sectional design, with a multistage random sample of 944 11- to 14-year-old children representative of Santa Maria, a southern city in Brazil. They were examined for recording the prevalence and severity of tooth erosion by 2 examiners. Children completed the Brazilian version of Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ(11-14)) and data about socioeconomic variables of the target population were collected by means of a structured questionnaire. The Poisson regression model using robust variance was performed to assess the association between the predictor variables and the outcomes.


RESULTS
Prevalence of tooth erosion (7.2%) and severity were low. Poisson regression models showed a distinct gradient in mean CPQ(11-14) scores by socioeconomic indicators. Children with tooth erosion with low levels of severity did not report higher means in the total scores or domains of CPQ(11-14).


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of tooth erosion of low severity did not have a significant negative impact on the children's perception of oral health or on their daily performance.
Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Dentistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil.
F
F
Vargas-Ferreira
C
C
Piovesan
J R
JR
Praetzel
F M
FM
Mendes
P J
PJ
Allison
T M
TM
Ardenghi
D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014077:Tooth Erosion / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology