RESUMO
The aim of the present investigation was to assess the impact of dental caries prevalence and the consequences of untreated cavitated dentine lesions on quality of life of 6- and 7-year-old Brazilian children. A total of 826 schoolchildren were assessed using ICDAS and pufa (to score consequences of dental caries on soft tissues) indices. History of extraction and toothache was recorded. Oral health-related quality of life was assessed using the Brazilian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (B-ECOHIS). A multiple logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the prevalence of dentine carious lesions, pufa, history of extraction and toothache with the B-ECOHIS scores. A total of 587 questionnaires were analyzed. The prevalence of cavitated dentine lesions and pufa was 74.8 and 26.2%, respectively. Some 21.8% of children reported toothache and 9.2% had had at least one tooth extraction. The chance (OR) for children with cavitated dentine lesions, pufa ≥1, history of extraction and toothache of having higher B-ECOHIS scores than those not affected was 1.90 (95% CI: 1.18-3.06), 6.26 (95% CI: 3.63-10.83), 6.87 (95% CI: 2.75-17.16) and 3.68 (95% CI: 2.12-6.39), respectively. Children's quality of life was negatively influenced by untreated cavitated dentine lesions and their consequences.