September 2011

Objectives: To compare the oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) and caries status between school children living with their parents and orphan children, and to assess the factors that influence the oral health related quality of life. Methods: Study sample consisted of 279 school children living with their parents and 257 orphan children thus making a total sample of 536 school children. Sampling frame comprised of 12-15 year old children attending two upper primary public schools and two special schools for orphan children at Udaipur city, India. Clinical examination for caries status and personal interviews for oral health related quality of life were conducted by a single investigator. Results: Children without parents presented poor scores for OHRQoL compared to those having parents. Caries status was significantly related to OHRQoL and its domains. Subjects with no caries reported good OHRQoL which deteriorated as the caries score increased. Children who never visited dentist reported poorer OHRQoL than regular visitors and males experienced better oral health quality of life than females. All the four variables (gender, group, dental visits and DMFT) entered the step wise linear regression analysis when the effect of each independent variable was adjusted for all others and were responsible for a variance of 21.6% for OHRQoL; however DMFT constituted the first best predictor which solely explained a variance 15.8%. Conclusions: Oral health related quality of life along with its domains differed significantly between children with and without parents. Furthermore, gender, dental visiting habits and caries status significantly influenced the OHRQoL. Key words: School children; OHRQoL; Dental caries