Early Childhood Caries (ECC) significantly affects the quality of life of children due to recurrent pain, infection and other associated problems. The aim of the study is to assess the change in the Oral Health related Quality of Life(OHRQoL) of children aged < 5 years undergoing complete oral rehabilitation under general anaesthesia. A totally of 50 healthy children were enrolled in the present study. Oral Health related Quality of Life of each child was assessed by interviewing a mothers using a pre-validated Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) one day prior to the treatment appointment and comparing the scores with those at 1- and 3- months post treatment to evaluate the changes in the OHRQoL, if any and assess the stability of the changes. The results revealed a statistically significant reduction in Quality of Life (QoL) scores of all the domains and total ECOHIS scores between baseline and 1 month, and baseline and 3 months. It was thus concluded that the OHRQoL showed a significant improvement after complete oral rehabilitation under general anaesthesia and an improvement persisted beyond the immediate post-treatment period.
Keywords: Early Childhood Caries (ECC), Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (Ecohis), General anaesthesia, Oral Heath Related Quality Of Life (Ohrqol), Complete oral rehabilitation