Does dental agenesis have an impact on OHRQoL of children, adolescents and young adults? A systematic review

Abstract

Dental agenesis (DA) is defined as the congenital absence of teeth and is considered as the most common dental anomaly. It may cause speech and masticatory dysfunctions as well as esthetic problems. Its impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is not fully understood. The aim of the study was to assess whether DA affects OHRQoL of children, adolescents and young adults. A broad search was done on databases (Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and Virtual Health Library) using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and free terms. Eligibility criteria for article selection were predetermined and were classified according to quality assessment and risk of bias. The electronic search produced 178 titles and abstracts. After excluding duplicate abstracts and applying the eligibility criteria, three articles were assessed for the final qualitative synthesis. The three articles were classified as moderate quality and present risk of bias. No articles were found that had evaluated children and young adults. From the three articles that were selected, only one was found to have a greater impact in the adolescent agenesis group with statistical differences in all domains. There is insufficient evidence available to conclude if DA affects OHRQoL of children, adolescents and young adults.

Keywords:

• Dental agenesis
• quality of life
• oral health
• child
• adolescent
• young adult

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the FAPERJ grant (Process number # E-26/211.540/2016); ASR was supported by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level -or Education- Personnel) for the Master’s degree; JSF was supported by CNPq/UFF Scientific Initiation.