Cárie na primeira infância, má oclusão, fatores psicossociais e qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal de crianças e suas famílias

Abstract

Early childhood caries (ECC) and malocclusion can affect the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of children and families. Psychosocial factors related to children, their families and the community in which they are inserted must be studied. Therefore, the objectives of this thesis were: 1) to verify the association between psychosocial factors with ECC and OHRQoL in preschoolers and their families (Manuscript #1); 2) to evaluate the impact of anterior open bite (AOB) and deep bite (DB) on the OHRQoL of preschool children and the role of parental resilience as a moderating factor in such association (Manuscript #2). A representative cross sectional study was carried out with 4-to-6-year-old preschoolers and their parents/caregivers from Ribeirão das Neves, MG, Brazil. Parents/caregivers self administered the Brazilian versions of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) and the Resilience Scale, as well as a questionnaire about socioeconomic and child's oral health behavior data. Preschoolers were examined by two trained and calibrated dentists for the diagnosis of ECC and pulpal consequences of untreated carious lesions (Kappa>0.95), using the epidemiological version of the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDASepi) index combined with the pufa index: no caries, early stage (notable opacity/retained pigmentation in the background of pits and fissures), moderate stage (cavitation in enamel/shading in underlying dentin), extensive stage without pulpal consequences (cavitation with dentin exposure) and extensive stage with pulpal consequences (cavitation with dentin exposure, and pulp involvement and/or fistulas/abscesses). The presence of AOB and DB were evaluated using the Foster and Hamilton index. Data were analysed through Structural Equation Model (SEM), using the Mplus software, version 8.6 (Manuscript #1) and through moderation analysis, using PROCESS (PROCESS for SPSS, version 3.4) (Manuscript #2). The results of the Manuscript #1 demonstrated that lower socioeconomic status (b=-0.250; p<0.001) and higher frequency of consumption of free sugars (β=0.122; p=0.033) were directly associated with an extensive stage of caries with pulpal consequences, while lower parental resilience indirectly impacted more advanced stages of ECC, through the variable frequency of consumption of free sugars (b=-0.089; p=0.048). In addition, ECC was associated with worse scores in both the child's (β=0.587; p<0.001) and the family's (β=0.506; p<0.001) OHRQoL. The results of the Manuscript #2 demonstrated that preschoolers whose parents presented low resilience, and preschoolers who presented OAB, had a negative impact on OHRQoL (β:3.95; p=0.025) compared to those who had normal occlusion. Parental resilience did not act as a moderating factor in the association between DB and OHRQoL (p>0.005). It is concluded that the severity of ECC negatively impacted the OHRQoL of preschoolers and their families, and the main factors associated with the severity of ECC were lower socioeconomic status, higher frequency of free sugar consumption and lower parental resilience (Manuscript #1). OAB negatively interfered with the OHRQoL of preschoolers, with this association being stronger when parental resilience was low. Therefore, parental resilience acted as a moderating factor in the relationship between OAB and OHRQoL (Manuscript # 2).