Unhealthy oral habits and oral health-related quality of life in a group of Chilean preschool children

Purpose: to characterize unhealthy oral habits and oral health-related quality of life in a group of children from Santiago, Chile, comparing these results by sex and the presence or absence of unhealthy oral habits. Methods: parents/caregivers of 100 boys (4.06±0.7 years old) and 92 girls (4.09±0.7 years old) from preschools answered the Unhealthy Oral Habits Identification Instrument and the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale via Google Forms. Results: altogether, 63.3% had one, and 16.9% had two unhealthy oral habits; 57.6% used a bottle with a regular nipple. The mean Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale score was 16.5 out of 52 points. Quality of life did not differ significantly between children with one or more habits and those without unhealthy oral habits. Conclusions: bottle use with a regular nipple was the most prevalent habit. Quality of life had a greater impact on children at a functional level, with no significant differences by sex or in quality of life, based on the presence or absence of unhealthy oral habits.