Self-perception of dental esthetics, malocclusion, and oral health-related quality of life among 13–15-year-old schoolchildren in Bengaluru: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Malocclusion is one of the common public health problems worldwide. The study aimed to assess the self-perception of dental esthetics, malocclusion, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and to determine the relation between them among 13–15-year-old schoolchildren in Bengaluru. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 540 children were selected equally from government, aided, and private schools in Bengaluru. Self-perception of dental esthetics was measured using Oral Aesthetic Subjective Impact Scale (OASIS), whereas malocclusion and OHRQoL were assessed using Dental Aesthetic Index and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14), respectively. Descriptive and analytical statistics was done using the SPSS 22. Analysis of variance, Kruskal‒Wallis test, and Pearson correlation test were used. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of malocclusion was found to be 29.63%. Among schoolchildren, the mean OASIS scores (self-perception) and OHIP-14 scores were 14.62 ± 6.93 and 9.04 ± 8.07, respectively. There was a significant difference among government, aided, and private schoolchildren regarding “definite malocclusion” and mean OHIP scores. Overall, there was a significant weak correlation between the severity of malocclusion and OHIP scores ([r = 0.259], [P = 0.01]) as well as between the severity of malocclusion and OASIS scores ([r = 0. 192], [P = 0.02]). Conclusion: The severity of malocclusion significantly correlated with self-perception of dental esthetics and OHRQoL among schoolchildren. Hence, there is a relation between self-perception of dental esthetics and malocclusion as well as malocclusion and OHRQoL.