title: Dental enamel defects, caries experience and oral health-related quality of life: a cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The impact of enamel defects of the first permanent molars on caries experience and child oral health-related quality of life was evaluated in a cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children who participated in a study of enamel defects of the first permanent molars 8 years earlier were invited for a follow-up assessment. Consenting children completed the Child Perception Questionnaire and the faces Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale, and were examined by two calibrated examiners. ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, negative binomial and logistic regression were used for data analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and eleven children returned a completed questionnaire and 91 were clinically examined. Negative binomial regression found that oral health impacts were associated with gender (boys, risk ratio (RR) = 0.73, P = 0.03) and decayed, missing or filled permanent teeth (DMFT) (RR = 1.1, P = 0.04). The mean DMFT of children were sound (0.9, standard deviation (SD) = 1.4), diffuse defects (0.8, SD = 1.7), demarcated defects (1.5, SD = 1.4) and pit defects (1.3, SD = 2.3) (Kruskal-Wallis, P = 0.05). Logistic regression of first permanent molar caries found higher odds of caries experience with baseline primary tooth caries experience (odds ratio (OR) = 1.5, P = 0.01), the number of teeth affected by enamel defects (OR = 1.9, P = 0.05) and lower odds with the presence of diffuse enamel defects (OR = 0.1, P = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of diffuse enamel defects was associated with lower odds of caries experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Dental Health Services, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.|Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: P
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1647-2128
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arrow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003743:Dental Enamel; D003744:Dental Enamel Hypoplasia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008963:Molar; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009909:Oral Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Caries experience; child dental anxiety; child oral health-related quality of life; cohort study; dental enamel defects