Association Between Dental Pain and Oral Health-related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objective: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the impact of dental pain on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children and adolescents.

Methods: Electronic and manual searches were performed with no restrictions of language or year of publication. The PECO strategy was used to identify observational studies involving participants up to 19 years of age with dental pain and to those without dental pain to determine the impact of this condition on OHRQoL. The methodological quality of the studies was appraised using the Fowkes and Fulton checklist. Meta-analysis was conducted by subgroups, based on OHRQoL questionnaires and effect measures. The quality of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE approach.

Results: Sixteen studies were included in the systematic review and fourteen in the meta-analysis. The methodological quality of four of these studies was considered poor. The pooled results of the subgroup analysis (SOHO-5, B-ECOHIS and Child-OIDP) showed that children with dental pain had a 3.64-fold greater chance of a negative impact on OHRQoL ([log] 95% CI: 2.80-4.72; I 0%; P < .001). The second meta-analysis (Child-OIDP, SOHO-5 and CPQ8-10) demonstrated statistical significance (SMD 0.79; 95% CI: 0.43-1.16; I 92%; P < .001), as did the pooled results considering the B-ECOHIS ([log] OR 7.75; 95% CI: 4.59-13.11; I 84%; P < .001). The certainty of evidence in all meta-analyses was low.

Conclusions: Although the quality of the evidence is low, dental pain has a negative impact on OHRQoL.