Relationship between oral health status and oral health related quality of life in adults attending H.P Government Dental College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh--India.

Objectives: To describe Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) in adults attending the Outpatient Department (OPD) of Public health Dentistry, H.P Government Dental College, Shimla, and to assess the relationship between clinical measures of oral health status and oral health related quality of life.

Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out for a period of three months on 351 subjects reporting to the OPD of Public health Dentistry, H.P Government Dental College, Shimla. Subjects were examined systemically for dental caries, periodontal disease using DMFT index and CPI index. OHRQoL was measured using the 14 - item Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14). Also the data on education, socio economic status and reasons for seeking dental care was collected.

Results: There were 158 males and 193 females participating in the study. The mean age of study population was 35.7 ± 9.33. The mean total OHP-14 score was 9.5 ± 9.4; 35.6% of the subjects reported one or more OHIP problems 'fairly often or very often'. When the prevalence of impacts fairly /very often was modeled using logistic regression, presence of decayed teeth, presence of periodontal disease (CPI score >2) and number of missing teeth remained significantly associated with OHRQoL after adjusting for gender and episodic dental care.

Conclusion: OHIP-14 scores were significantly associated with the clinical oral health status indicators, independently of gender and socio economic inequalities in oral health.