Oral health related quality of life and decay-missing-filled teeth in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Introduction: Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) exhibit a kind of negligence in performing their daily tasks and activities, which also affects the maintenance of oral health. Due to the low quality of life in these children, it is doubtful that the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) will be affected compared to healthy children. Materials and Methods: In this study, 106 untreated ADHD children referred to the clinic of Taleghani Hospital in Gorgan City, Iran, in 2018-2019 were selected through the convenient sampling method. Data were gathered using the Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (Child-OIDP) and Clinical Examination Questionnaires. Data were analyzed through SPSS-18, descriptive statistics indexes, the Mann-Whitney test, the Shapiro-Wilk test, and the Spearman correlation test. Results: The most common self-expression problem of ADHD children was decay (88.6%), followed by pain, erupting, and tooth sensitivity, respectively. The OHRQoL score of these children was 12.79, which OIDP obtained. The index and the decay score of these children were 6.62, obtained by the Decay, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index—the correlation between total DMFT and OIDP. The index score was positive and significant (r= 0.256, P= 0.008). A significant inverse correlation existed between the total DMFT score and parents’ education level (r= -0.271, P= 0.005) and (r= -0.283, P= 0.003), respectively. Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between oral health and tooth decay index. Better oral health and decay, missing, and filled teeth index are associated with a higher quality of life.