Is there an Association between Oral Health Status and School Performance? A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The present cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the impact of poor oral health status on school performance of 600 primary and nursery school children of Bengaluru city, India. The data were collected using the methods and standards recommended by the WHO for oral health surveys. Oral health status was assessed using the df-t index (number of decayed and filled teeth). Academic performance was assessed based on the marks obtained. The children were divided into three groups: Excellent, average, below average (as given by the school teachers). Comparison between categorical variables was performed using one-way ANOVA using the SPSS software package (version 12.0). The mean df-t of the excellent group was 1.56 ± 2.5, for average group it was 2.05 ± 2.8 and for the below average group it was 4.47 ± 2.7. The below average group showed high caries index compared to other groups. The relation between school performance and mean df-t was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). The findings of this study demonstrate the impact that poor oral health has, on lowering school performance in children. It can be safely concluded that improvement of children's oral health may be a vehicle to improve their educational experience.How to cite this article: Garg N, Anandakrishna L, Chandra P. Is there an Association between Oral Health Status and School Performance? A Preliminary Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2012; 5(2):132-135.

Oral health and school performance in a group of schoolchildren from the Federal District, Brazil

“…Yet the literature is still unclear regarding the impact of oral conditions on school performance. Some studies found a significant association between cavitated dentin lesions and academic performance while others did not . In this study, the results indicated a significant association between school performance and the final CPQ score, which subjectively evaluates the impact of oral health on a child's daily activities.…”

Does oral health influence school performance and school attendance? A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Most studies were conducted in schools, and the sample sizes varied between 312 and 65 680 participants . Dental caries was the most investigated dental exposure as it was assessed in nine studies . The DMFT and ICDAS were the predominant clinical indices employed to evaluate dental caries.…”

“…Parent's perception of child's oral health was investigated in six studies, while three studies investigated self‐perceived oral health and other three studies assessed toothache . Of the 12 studies on school performance, eight used information from school registers, and nearly three of the studies on school attendance obtained information from school reports …”

“…Meta‐analysis was used to derive pooled adjusted odds ratios (OR) on the relationship of oral health measures with school performance (Figure ) and school attendance (Figure ). The pooled effect size of the association between dental caries and school performance was obtained using data from 3205 children from five studies . Children with one or more decayed teeth had 44% higher probability of poor school performance than caries‐free children (OR: 1.44 95% CI: 1.24‐1.64) (Figure ).…”

Assessment of oral health-related quality of life in 9-15 year old children with visual impairment in Uttarakhand, India

“…[2] The psychosocial impact of oral diseases often significantly diminishes quality of life and children are the worst affected group. [3] Children are more prone to numerous oral conditions that may have a negative impact on quality of life which may be quantified in terms of dropping out from school; disruption to physical activity, eating, sleeping, and studying, which may affect their emotions adversely. The gravity of the situation further deepens when we talk in terms of oral health conditions of differently abled children.…”