Parental perceptions of impact of oral disorders on Colombian preschoolers' oral health-related quality of life.

There is no study assessing the impact of dental caries (DC), traumatic dental injuries (TDI) and dental malocclusions (DM) on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of preschool children from Spanish-speaking countries in population-based samples. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of DC, TDI and DM, on Colombian preschool children's OHRQoL through a cross-sectional study. The clinical setting included private and public preschools in Cartagena,Colombia. The sample included 643 preschool children aged 1-5 years and their parents, who answered the Colombian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (C-ECOHIS) and socioeconomic questionnaire. Three calibrated examiners performed clinical assessment of severity of DC according to decayed, missing and filled primary teeth index, TDI and DM. Poisson regression associated clinical and socio economic conditions to the outcome. Overall, 48. 2% of parents reported children's oral impacts (total C-ECOHIS score >1). The mean (standard deviation) C-ECOHIS scores were 2. 20 (0. 15). The multivariate adjusted model showed that children from non-nuclear families (RR=1. 51; p=0. 003),with low and high DC severity (RR=1. 51, p=0. 003; RR=1. 53, p=0. 009) and TDI (RR=1. 56, p=0. 003), were more likely to experience negative impact on total C-ECOHIS scores. DC and TDI have negative impact on Colombian preschool children's OHRQoL. Children from non-nuclear families have worse OHRQoL at this age, independently of the presence of oral conditions.