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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Does the Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire measure dental appearance?
Christian Mehl1, Matthias Kern, Sandra Freitag-Wolf
1Department of Prosthodontics, Propaedeutics, and Dental Materials, School of Dentistry, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein Campus Kiel, Germany. cmehl@proth.uni-kiel.de
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether there is a need to develop a new questionnaire measuring dental appearance or if this is already covered by the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49).
Materials And Methods:
Based on internationally accepted guidelines about dental esthetics, a questionnaire was developed to measure dental appearance (QDA). Eleven items defined a QDA sum score (0 = absolutely satisfied, 44 = absolutely dissatisfied). Furthermore, oral health-related quality of life was evaluated using the German version of the OHIP-49 and the OHIP-esthetic. Thirty patients (14 women, 16 men; mean age 59 +/- 10 years) were included in the study. All patients received a complete oral rehabilitation including the anterior teeth of the maxilla. Questionnaires were completed before and after treatment.
Results:
The median values were 16 and 1.5 for the QDA sum score, 46 and 16 for the OHIP sum score, and 14.5 and 2 for the OHIP-esthetic before and after rehabilitation, respectively. The improvement after treatment was significant for all questionnaires (P < or = .0001). Between the QDA sum score and the OHIP sum score or any of the OHIP subscales (the only exception being "psychological discomfort"), no significant correlation could be found (P > .05). Between the QDA sum score and the OHIP-esthetic, a significant correlation could be found before treatment (r = 0.505, P = .004) but not after treatment (P > .05).
Conclusions:
If the OHIP-49 is used in clinical studies and a profound evaluation of dental appearance is desired, it is reasonable to use an additional esthetic modulus.
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