The relationship between oral health-related quality of life, the need for orthodontic treatment and bullying, among Brazilian teenagers

Abstract

Introduction: Orthodontic treatment aims at oral health and restoration of function as main objectives, however, psychological and social effects end up being the main reason for the demand for treatment. Objective: To determine the association between the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), the need for orthodontic treatment and bullying among Brazilian teenagers. Methods: This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study. To assess the malocclusion, the Dental Aesthetic Index was used. And the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 was used to analyze the OHRQoL. The Kidscape questionnaire was used to investigate cases of bullying. The following variables were also included: previous orthodontic treatment and a desire to fix the teeth to improve one’s appearance. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression considering the poor OHRQoL as a response variable. Results: 815 teenagers participated in the study. There was a statistically significant association between oral health-related quality of life and the variables: previous orthodontic treatment (p= 0.0270), desire to fix the teeth (p< 0.0001), sex (p= 0.0309), history of being a victim of bullying (p< 0.0001), frequency of bullying episodes (p= 0.0170), and consequences of bullying (p< 0.0001). The following were considered as risk factors for poor OHRQoL: lack of previous orthodontic treatment (OR = 2.191) and negative consequences of bullying (OR = 3.042). Conclusion: The need for orthodontic treatment was not associated with the OHRQoL; however, bullying and previous orthodontic treatment had a statistically significant association with this variable.

The Association of Oral Health Status, demographic characteristics and socioeconomic determinants with Oral health-related quality of life among children: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

“…Of them, 3066 studies were thereafter excluded according to the inclusion criteria. In the end, a total of 11 studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis [6,[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. Figure 1 demonstrates the review process.…”

Association between adverse childhood experiences, bullying, self-esteem, resilience, social support, caries and oral hygiene in children and adolescents in sub-urban Nigeria

“…In addition, poor dental aesthetics [ 26 ] and caries [ 27 – 29 ] have negative emotional and social effects on oral health-related quality of life because of their negative impact on self-esteem and self-concept. The history, frequency and consequences of bully victimization also affects oral health related quality of life [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Psychosocial Impacts of Malocclusion among Adolescents in Kedah, Malaysia: A Qualitative Study

“…The present study revealed that dental malocclusion had noticeable negative psychosocial impacts on adolescents in Malaysia. Although similar findings have been reported worldwide (Bittencourt et al, 2017;Dalaie et al, 2018;Gatto et al, 2019), the present study applied a qualitative design, specifically focusing on patients presenting to two specialized dental clinics. Therefore, in addition to the negative influences of dental malocclusion on the emotion, social interaction and quality of life of patients in general, the present study provides insight into the pressure they received from different parties because of their conditions, which eventually resulted in their treatment-seeking decisions.…”

“…Similarly, children and adolescents with the similar condition were found to seek treatment, mainly because of their dissatisfaction with the dentofacial deformities, recommendations from dentists and the influence of schoolmates who wear braces (Chambers & Zitterkopf, 2019;Ernest et al, 2019). Gatto et al (2019) also reported that school bullying took place in 12.8% of adolescents with dental malocclusion, greatly affecting their selfesteem and oral health-related quality of life.…”