Impact of malocclusion on the quality of life of Saudi children.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between malocclusion severity and quality of life in children.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: Two hundred and seventy-eight children aged 11 to 14 years were recruited voluntarily from the Dental and Maxillofacial Centre of the Almana General Hospital in Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia. The children were asked to fill out the Arabic version of the Child Perception Questionnaire for 11- to 14-year-old children (CPQ11-14) and were then clinically examined to determine the severity of their malocclusion using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). Multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare the four domains and the total CPQ11-14 scores between the four DAI severity groups.

RESULTS: Significant differences were found between DAI severity groups for the four domains and the total CPQ11-14 scores. Although children with very severe (handicapping) malocclusion had significantly higher domain and total CPQ11-14 scores than all the other groups (differences of up to 6 and 22 units, respectively, compared to children with no/minor malocclusion), there were no differences between those with no/minor, definite, and severe malocclusion.

CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that only very severe malocclusion had an impact on the quality of life of the participants. Orthodontists should focus not only on clinical measures of malocclusion but should also consider the impact of severe malocclusion on patients' quality of life.