Abstract
The
diagnosis of periodontal disease is commonly based on objective
evaluations of the patient's medical/dental history as well as clinical
and radiographic examinations. However, periodontal disease should also
be evaluated subjectively through measures that quantify its impact on
oral health-related quality of life. The aim of this study was to
evaluate the impact of periodontal disease on quality of life among
adolescents, adults and older adults. A systematic search of the
literature was performed for scientific articles published up to July
2015 using electronic databases and a manual search. Two independent
reviewers performed the selection of the studies, extracted the data and
assessed the methodological quality. Thirty-four cross-sectional
studies involving any age group, except children, and the use of
questionnaires for the assessment of the impact of periodontal disease
on quality of life were included. Twenty-five studies demonstrated that
periodontal disease was associated with a negative impact on quality of
life, with severe periodontitis exerting the most significant impact by
compromising aspects related to function and esthetics. Unlike
periodontitis, gingivitis was associated with pain as well as
difficulties performing oral hygiene and wearing dentures. Gingivitis
was also negatively correlated with comfort. The results indicate that
periodontal disease may exert an impact on quality of life of
individuals, with greater severity of the disease related to greater
impact. Longitudinal studies with representative samples are needed to
ensure validity of the findings.
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