title: Impact of a dental care program on the quality of life of children with and without caries.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effects of the caries treatment provided by a dental care program on changes in schoolchildren's OHRQoL. A one-year follow-up was conducted with a sample of 372 children aged 8 to 10 years which were clinically examined and divided into two matched groups according to their caries experience: dental treatment group (DTG) and group without caries (GWC). Both groups were assessed three times (at baseline, at 4 weeks, and at 1 year) using the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ8-10). The normality test was performed for the statistical analyses; the Friedman test was used for the dependent variables (longitudinal assessment repeated three times for the same group); and the Mann-Whitney test was used for the independent variables (test and control groups in each time period). There was improvement in all domains and in overall CPQ8-10 (p < 0.0001) in the DTG over time, but no significant changes (p > 0.05) were observed at baseline for overall CPQ8-10 and for the emotional well-being domain in the GWC. The comparison between groups demonstrated that OHRQoL was persistently better for the GWC (p < 0.05) over time. In conclusion, dental caries treatment has a long-term positive impact on schoolchildren's OHRQoL, highlighting the importance of health policies that promote access to dental care for this population.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG, Faculty of Dentistry, Departament of Social and Preventive Dentistry.
authors.forename: Janice Simpson de
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Paula
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Campinas - Unicamp, Piracicaba Dental School, Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karin Luciana Migliato
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Sarracini
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Campinas - Unicamp, Piracicaba Dental School, Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gláucia Maria Bovi
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Ambrosano
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Campinas - Unicamp, Piracicaba Dental School, Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antônio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Campinas - Unicamp, Piracicaba Dental School, Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo de Castro
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Meneghim
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Campinas - Unicamp, Piracicaba Dental School, Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fábio Luiz
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Mialhe
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000379:methods*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome