Prevalência e impacto da maloclusão na qualidade de vida de crianças pré-escolares de Belo Horizonte

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of malocclusion in deciduous dentitions as well the repercussion of malocclusion on the quality of life of preschool children and their families. After approval from the Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (159/08), a cross-sectional study was carried out in which parents/guardians of preschool children, from 60 to 71 years of age both genders (n=1069), randomly selected in public and private preschools of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, answered the Brazilian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (B-ECOHIS) and a socioeconomic questionnaire. B-ECOHIS was applied to evaluate the perception of the children and parents/guardians regarding oral health related to their children´s quality of life (OHRQoL). Socioeconomic status was determined by considering the family´s income level, the parents/guardians educational level, the type of school that the child was attending and the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). A single examiner, previously calibrated for the oral exam (kappa 0.82) assessed the presence of malocclusion in the children, using the established by Foster and Hamilton [1969], Grabowski et al. [2007], and Oliveira et al. [2008]. Malocclusion was determined when the child presented at least one of the following conditions: posterior crossbite, overjet (>2mm), anterior crossbite, anterior open bite, and deep overbite. To assess the association of malocclusion and other socioeconomic factors with the OHRQoL, the mean association was calculated by expressing the gross and adjusted prevalence rates (PR), estimated by means of Poisson regression models. The results show that the prevalence of malocclusion was 46.2%. The prevalence of deep overbite was 19.7%; this alteration proved to be the most prevalent in the sample. Anterior open bite was diagnosed in 7.9% of the children examined; 13.1% of these children also presented posterior crossbite. It could be observed that 10.5% of the children presented an increased overjet, while 6.8% presented anterior crossbite. The prevalence of negative impact on the OHRQoL of the child and their families was 32.7% (n= 350) and 27.1% (n= 290), respectively. In addition, the most affected domains included the child function domain (25.1%; n= 269) and the family distress domain (24.0%; n= 257). The univariate analyses showed that no association between malocclusion and negative impact on the OHRQoL of the child and their families (p>0.05) could be observed. This result was also confirmed by the Poisson multiple regression model adjusted by socioeconomic factors as regards children and family domains: PR= 1.09; CI95%: 0.97-1.22; p>0.05 and PR= 1.12; CI95%: 0.98-1.26; p>0.05, respectively. It could therefore be concluded that the prevalence of malocclusion in deciduous dentitions was indeed high; however, this alteration presented no negative effect on the quality of life of Brazilian preschool children and their families.