Smiles That Matter: A Pilot Study on the Oral Health and Quality of Life of 8-10-Year-Olds Using the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 8-10 in the Rayagada District of Odisha, India.

Background Oral health-related quality of life is a key indicator of well-being among children, particularly in rural and underserved populations. This pilot study aimed to assess dental caries experience and its association with oral health-related quality of life using the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ) among 8-10-year-old schoolchildren in Derigram Panchayat, Rayagada district, Odisha. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted among 112 children selected using stratified random sampling. Dental caries were evaluated using the World Health Organization criteria (2013), and oral health-related quality of life was examined using the CPQ₈₋₁₀, which includes the following four domains: Oral Symptoms, Functional Limitations, Emotional Well-being, and Social Well-being. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's rank correlation test. A probability value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The mean number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth in the primary dentition was the highest among nine-year-olds (3.43 ± 2.05), with a total sample mean of 3.07 ± 1.88. Statistically significant differences in caries scores were observed across age groups for the number of decayed teeth in the primary dentition (p = 0.043); the overall decayed, missing, and filled teeth score in the primary dentition (p = 0.036); and the number of decayed teeth in the permanent dentition (p = 0.039). Spearman's rank correlation test showed significant positive associations between the overall decayed, missing, and filled teeth score in the primary dentition (correlation coefficient = 0.40), the number of decayed teeth in the primary dentition (correlation coefficient = 0.36), and the overall decayed, missing, and filled teeth score in the permanent dentition (correlation coefficient = 0.38) with the total CPQ scores (all p < 0.01), particularly within the Social Well-being domain. Conclusions The study highlights a moderate caries burden among rural schoolchildren and demonstrates a significant negative impact of untreated dental caries on children's quality of life. Findings emphasize the need for early intervention and school-based preventive programs, especially in tribal and underserved regions. Larger studies are needed to validate these preliminary observations and inform targeted oral health policies. Furthermore, the application of the CPQ₈₋₁₀ in this rural Indian context provides novel insights, underscoring the importance of culturally relevant, child-centered quality of life measures in oral health research.