Observational studyBMC oral health2026
Oral health related quality of life in a group of Egyptian preschool children with early childhood caries: a cross-sectional study.
Observational study in BMC oral health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association of periodontal status with patient-reported outcomes: oral health-related quality of life and dental anxiety in a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- Early Childhood Caries and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Preschool Children: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundEarly childhood caries (ECC) is a common dental condition that could affect preschool children 's functional and emotional well-being worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of ECC on preschool Egyptian children's Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) and their parents. MATERIALS AND
methodsThis observational cross-sectional study included 260 preschool children aged 3 to 5 years who attended the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic at Ain Shams University. A resident dentist performed clinical examinations to measure the dmft index (decayed, missing, and filled teeth) using dental examination tools following the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for diagnosing dental caries. Caries-free children were also included to enable direct comparison and estimate the impact of ECC severity on quality of life. The Arabic version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (A-ECOHIS) was used in this study to evaluate their OHRQoL. Data from the questionnaire were tabulated, summarized, and statistically analysed using Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney U and, the Kruskal-Wallis tests. Correlations assessments were made using Spearman's rank correlation.
resultsOut of 260 children who participated in the study, 75.8% had ECC, of whom 31% had ECC and 69% had severe ECC (S-ECC). The mean ECOHIS score was 19.52 ± 12.46. Children with S-ECC had a significantly higher mean ECOHIS score (25.87 ± 10.05) than children without caries (4.94 ± 6.08) and those with ECC (20.35 ± 8.96) (p < 0.0001). Regression analysis verified that worse OHRQoL was significantly associated with the presence of ECC and rising dmft scores. Higher ECOHIS scores were also associated with maternal employment and parental age < 35 years.
conclusionsLower OHRQoL was significantly associated with the high prevalence of ECC and severe ECC (S-ECC), especially in domains related to pain, eating difficulties, and psychological discomfort. Higher dmft scores, the presence of ECC, younger parental age, and employment were also associated with worse OHRQoL scores. These results emphasize the importance of early preventive dental care, particularly for preschool children in resource-limited settings.
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