Change in children's oral health-related quality of life following dental treatment under general anaesthesia for the management of dental caries: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries has significant impact on children and their families and may necessitate treatment under general anaesthesia (GA). The use of oral health-related quality-of-life (OHRQoL) measures enables evaluation of dental treatment from a patient's perspective.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to assess change in OHRQoL in children following treatment under GA for the management of dental caries.

METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted to identify articles which were assessed against inclusion criteria before data extraction. Studies involving children under 16 years, having treatment for dental caries under GA, were considered eligible. Included studies were quality assessed.

RESULTS: Twenty studies were included, which demonstrated significant heterogeneity. Most studies employed a pre-test-post-test design. All but one study relied on proxy reports of OHRQoL. Only half the studies used instruments validated in the study population. Whereas all studies reported improved OHRQoL overall, some subscales showed changes which were not significant or worsened OHRQoL. The scientific quality of the studies varied considerably.

CONCLUSION: Heterogeneity of included papers limited the conclusions which could be drawn. Treatment under GA appears to result in overall improvements in proxy-reported OHRQoL; however, there is a need for further high-quality studies employing validated, child-reported measures of OHRQoL.