Influence of toothache on oral health-related quality of life during adolescence: a cohort study

Objectives This study aims to evaluate the influence of toothache in early adolescence on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) on later adolescence. Materials and methods A longitudinal study was conducted, starting in 2012 within a random sample of 1,134 adolescents of 12-year-olds, in Santa Maria, Brazil. Clinical, socioeconomic, demographic, and subjective variables were obtained. Toothache was collected through the question “In the last 6 months, did you have toothache?” Six years later, the same adolescents answered the short form of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11–14). Multilevel Poisson regression was used to evaluate the association between toothache at baseline (2012) with overall and domain-specific CPQ11–14 scores at follow-up (2018). Results A total of 769 adolescents were revaluated in 2018 (68% rate retention), with a mean age of 17.5 years (SD, 0.64). Adolescents who reported toothache at the baseline presented a had a higher mean score in the overall CPQ questionnaire during follow-up (Incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.25; 95% CI 1.20–1.31). Toothache was also associated with all domain-specific CPQ11–14 even after adjusting the other variables. Conclusions Brazilian adolescents who had toothache in early adolescence, even if only a single episode, have a negative impact on OHRQoL throughout adolescence. Clinical relevance These findings serve as a warning for dental professionals to dedicate their preventive approaches and to promote healthy standards in this age group, in order to avoid episodes of toothache and negative impact on OHRQoL.