Maloclusões em crianças

: associação com dados demográficos, socioeconômicos, hábitos orais deletérios e qualidade de vida relacionada a saúde bucal

Abstract

Introduction: Malocclusion is the third biggest problem in Dentistry and affects children at an increasingly early age. Management of the problem requires knowledge of factors related to malocclusion. Objectives: This study evaluated the prevalence of malocclusion and its association with sociodemographic variables, deleterious oral habits, and oral health-related quality of life in a population of Portuguese children. Materials and methods: Children from 3 to 12 years of age assisted by the “Ser Criança” Project and their legal guardians were included. Sociodemographic data, deleterious oral habits and quality of life measured by the ECOHIS-Pt or P-CPQ-Pt instruments were obtained by interviewing the parents. Clinical data were obtained by examining the children. These were described and the groups compared by Pearson's chi-square test and the t test for equality between means with a significance level of 5% (P < 0.05). Results: The sample of 63 children was predominantly female, aged between 6 and 12 years and with a family income greater than one minimum wage. Pacifier and bottle were the most common habits. The prevalence of malocclusion ranged from 1.6% to 20.6%, with overbite and unilateral posterior crossbite being the most prevalent. The mean quality of life scores by ECOHIS-Pt and P-CPQ-Pt were, respectively, 14.59(±2.13) and 16.12(±14.86). Malocclusion was not associated with demographic, socioeconomic and deleterious oral habits. There was an association between malocclusion and some aspect of quality of life. Conclusion: The prevalence of malocclusion in children ranged from 1.6% to 20.6% and was not associated with demographic, socioeconomic and deleterious oral habits. In children aged 3 to 5 years, open bite was associated with oral health-related quality of life. Among children aged 6 to 12 years, the associated malocclusions were overbite, anterior crossbite and unilateral posterior crossbite.

Date of Award	21 Jul 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Anna Moura (Supervisor) & Nélio Jorge Veiga (Co-Supervisor)