Psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics among university undergraduates

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of dental appearance on the psychosocial well-being of young adults in a university community.

The participants were a sample (165) of first year University undergraduates who completed the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ), a condition-specific Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) measure and another self-rating instrument, the Perception of Occlusion Scale (POS). Self- and examiner-perceived dental aesthetics were determined using the Aesthetic Component (AC) scale of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and a modification of the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). Results were analysed using non-parametric tests (Kruskall Wallis). Statistical significance was set as p<0.05.

Participants with varying degrees of self- and examiner-perceived dental aesthetics according to the AC of IOTN and the POS demonstrated statistically significant differences in well-being based on the PIDAQ subscale scores (p<0.05), with the dental self-confidence subscale demonstrating the strongest difference. No significant differences were observed between the modified DAI groups.

Differences in the quality of life of individuals with varying degrees of dental aesthetics and different levels of treatment need were identified by the PIDAQ. The most significant impact of impaired aesthetics being on dental self-confidence.