Impact of early childhood caries and its treatment under general anesthesia on orofacial function and quality of life : A prospective comparative study

Early Childhood Caries (ECC) has become a major public health concern worldwide, mostly affecting children from disadvantaged families in increasingly severe forms. This condition has been frequently reported to alter children's nutrition, growth and general development. It negatively impacts t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medicina oral, patología oral y cirugía bucal patología oral y cirugía bucal, 2017-05, Vol.22 (3), p.e333-e341
Main Authors: Collado, V, Pichot, H, Delfosse, C, Eschevins, C, Nicolas, E, Hennequin, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Anesthesia, General
Cancer
Child
Child, Preschool
Dental Caries - therapy
Face - physiology
Female
Food and Nutrition
Humans
Life Sciences
Male
Mouth - physiology
Prospective Studies
Quality of Life
Santé publique et épidémiologie
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Early Childhood Caries (ECC) has become a major public health concern worldwide, mostly affecting children from disadvantaged families in increasingly severe forms. This condition has been frequently reported to alter children's nutrition, growth and general development. It negatively impacts their quality of life, through painful episodes and severe eating difficulties. While this period is crucial for oral praxes development, the impact of dental state on oro-facial functions is poorly documented. This study evaluated the impact of ECC and its treatment under general anesthesia on oro-facial functions and quality of life in pre-school children. The dysfunction and quality of life scores from 25 children with ECC were evaluated before treatment (T0), one month (T1) and three months after treatment (T2), using the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S) and the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS), respectively, in comparison with 16 caries-free children. The number and extent of inter-arch dental contacts were also observed. The pre-operative higher NOT-S score observed in children with ECC decreased to reach the control level at T2. The mastication item was the most affected in the ECC group throughout the study. Their mean ECOHIS score also significantly decreased post-operatively and differences remaining between both groups were no longer clinically relevant. In addition, in children with ECC, values of functional inter-arch surfaces tended to increase over the follow-up period. Oro-facial functions and quality of life, altered by ECC, could be restored through a conservative treatment approach. Relations between dental state, orofacial functions and particularly chewing, and nutrition should be investigated further.
ISSN:1698-6946
1698-4447
1698-6946
DOI:10.4317/medoral.21611