Oral Health-Related Quality of Life: Association with Oral Health-Behavior of 5-year-old Children and Early Childhood Caries Assessed by Mothers

Objective: To analyze the differences in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) for children aged five with early childhood caries (ECC) based on oral health behavior risk factors in Indonesia. Material and Methods: 181 mother-child pairs participated in this study. Due to the pandemic during data collection, ECC status was examined by mothers through online guidelines provided by the researcher by four clinical stages of ECC. Parents completed questionnaires regarding their child's oral health behavior (tooth brushing, feeding, and dental visit related) and perceived quality of life using the Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for 5-year-old children (SOHO-5) Questionnaire. Children are also involved in rating their quality of life. Spearman correlation, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis were used to identify differences between multiple characteristics of children's oral health behavior. Results: OHRQoL is significantly correlated with ECC status. There are significant differences between oral health education (p=0.045 and 0.046), falling asleep while feeding (p<0.001 and 0.021), the frequency of sugar consumption (p=0.002 and 0.001), and the condition of the teeth (p<0.001) compared to children's oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) perceived by their mothers and themselves, respectively. No significant differences were found between the frequency of tooth brushing in a day, assisted child while tooth brushing, the starting age of a child's teeth brushed, dentist visits, food intake, and number of siblings (p>0.05). Conclusion: Oral health behavior related to early childhood caries and consequences in decreasing quality of life, both perceived by mothers or children themselves.