title: Impact of oral and dental health on quality of life in Iranian preschool children and their families.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral and dental health is one of the most important factors that affect the quality of life of preschool children. This study determined the effect of oral and dental health of preschoolers on their quality of life and that of their parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  This descriptive-cross sectional study asked 304 mothers of children aged 2-5 years from Babol, Iran, to complete an Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) questionnaire. Higher raw scores for ECOHIS indicate more oral problems and lower quality of life as related to oral health. The demographic information and dmft indices of the children were documented. The data were analyzed using the independent sample t-test, one way ANOVA, and the Scheffe post hoc test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean ECOHIS score was 6.65 ± 3.57, and the mean score of "decay, missing and filling teeth" (dmft) was 4.39 ± 3.68. A high correlation (r = 0.725) was observed between the dmft score and the ECOHIS score (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The oral and dental health of the children strongly influenced their quality of life and that of their parents. There was an inverse relationship between dmft and oral health-related quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Dentist, Department of Student Research Committee, Faculty of Dentistry, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Siyamak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nemati
authors.affiliation: Pedodontist, Oral Health Research Center, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghasempour
authors.affiliation: Ph.D. of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Asistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences. Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Sorayya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khafri
keywords: ECOHIS index; Oral health; Quality of life