Impact of Oral Health on The Quality of Life of Elementary School Teachers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The success of preventive school health programs is largely dependent on teacherswho are role models to pupils and pivotal to implementation. It is therefore important to understand theperception of school teachers about the impact of oral health on their daily activities. The aim of thisstudy was to assess oral health related quality of life of elementary school teachers by evaluating theimpact of oral conditions like dental caries and periodontal disease on their daily performances andschool work.METHODS: This was a descriptive cross sectional study in which 407 teachers were selected throughmultistage random sampling technique. Data were collected with structured interviewer-administeredOral Impact on Daily Performances (OIDP) questionnaires and by clinical oral examinations. Data werecollated and analysed with SPSS.RESULTS: The prevalence of reporting of impacts on daily performances was 39.1% with eating andenjoying food being the most commonly impacted activity. Impacts on daily performances were morelikely to be reported by teachers with better education (p = 0.019). Teachers with caries had higher oddsof reporting impacts as a result of oral health status (CI: 1.04, 5.64, p = 0.040). The severity ofperiodontal disease found on clinical examination was not related to reporting of impacts on quality oflife (p > 0.05).CONCLUSIONS: The oral health status of school teachers impacted significantly on their dailyperformance and school work when they experienced pain. Painless but highly prevalent oral lesionswere, however, not perceived to influence their quality of life.