What do systematic reviews say?

Operative treatment of dental caries lesions vs No caries treatment

Operative treatment of caries lesions has a positive effect on OHRQoL in adolescents, though the included evidence was of low quality (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating by the umbrella review).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  the operative treatment of caries lesions has a positive effect on OHRQoL, despite the low quality of evidence [9]. There is low evidence that the OHRQoL of children and adolescents improved following caries…
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Periodontal disease (severe periodontitis) vs Individuals without periodontal disease (by LOA)

Severe periodontal disease is associated with worse OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  individuals with severe periodontitis had worse OHRQoL scores [9].
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Dental caries vs Absence/lower severity of dental caries

Dental caries is associated with worse OHRQoL in adolescents, with greater severity linked to greater impact (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  The impact of dental caries on OHRQoL was addressed in five systematic reviews [9, 26, 34, 36, 37]. Three articles report that the greater the severity of the carious lesion, the worse the impact on OHRQoL in…
  5 studies
  GRADE not reported

Higher family income / socioeconomic status vs Lower income / worse socioeconomic status

Higher family income / better socioeconomic status is associated with better OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Adolescents from families with higher incomes and higher levels of maternal education have better OHRQoL scores [34]. Worse oral health status, older age, female sex and worse socioeconomic status were significantly…
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Completed orthodontic treatment vs Untreated / never received orthodontic treatment

Completing orthodontic treatment is associated with improved OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; included reviews report low-to-moderate certainty; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating by the umbrella review).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Adolescents who had never received orthodontic treatment had a greater impact on quality of life compared to patients who had already completed treatment [34, 40, 44-46]. Orthodontic treatment during childhood or…
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Missing teeth / tooth loss vs No tooth loss

Tooth loss/edentulism is associated with worse OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Toothache, DMT and tooth loss have a high impact on OHRQoL in adolescentes [26].
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Intervention not reported

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Untreated fractured tooth vs no trauma
  Relative risk (reporting impact) Fourfold (4x) greater risk
  1 study
  GRADE not reported

Poor / irregular toothbrushing vs Toothbrushing alone

Irregular/poor toothbrushing is associated with worse OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  The systematic review reports factors that physical disability, visual impairment, mental disorders, poor diet and irregular brushing negatively impact OHRQoL [36].
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Light vibrational forces (LVF) vs Conventional orthodontic appliance treatment

• Non‐surgical adjunctive interventions for accelerating tooth movement in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment 2023 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Katchooi 2018 (unclear risk of bias): light vibrational forces had no statistically significant (P>0.05) effect on OHRQoL when used with orthodontic aligners.
  1 study · 27 participants
  GRADE not reported

Higher parental / maternal education vs Lower parental education (reference)

Higher parental education is associated with better OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Adolescents from families with higher incomes and higher levels of maternal education have better OHRQoL scores [34]. Children from families with high income, parental education and family economy had better OHRQoL [42].
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Malocclusion vs Absence/lower severity of malocclusion

Malocclusion is associated with worse oral health-related quality of life in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  The studies who avaliate occlusal disorders, concluded that this pathology have a negative impact on OHRQoL in adolescents.
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Favorable family structure (being an only child; nuclear family) vs Having siblings / non-nuclear family structure

Being an only child and growing up in a nuclear family are associated with better OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Being an only child, growing up in your nuclear family or family structure, household conditions, and number of people per household and maternal age are predictors of better OHRQoL [43].
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Treatment of traumatic dental injury vs Untreated dental trauma

Treating traumatic dental injuries reduces their negative impact on OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; included review reports low certainty; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating by the umbrella review).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Treatment of TDI reduces the negative impact on OHRQoL in adolescents, based on parental perception [33]. Treatment of traumatic dental injuries reduces the impact on the OHRQoL with low evidence [46].
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Toothache vs No dental pain

Toothache/dental pain is associated with worse OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Toothache, DMT and tooth loss have a high impact on OHRQoL in adolescentes [26]. There is low evidence that dental pain has a negative impact on OHRQoL [37].
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Access to dental care / health services vs No / limited access to dental care

Access to dental care is associated with better OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  having parents who can provide dental care and safe housing are positive predictors for OHRQoL. access to dental care and the performance of health promotion programs are directly proportional to OHRQoL in adolescents.
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Skin color / ethnicity vs Reference skin color / ethnicity

There is no concrete evidence on the impact of skin color/ethnicity on OHRQoL in adolescents (evidence gap; narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

• Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes

  Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
  Biological data such as skin color and age have no concrete evidence about this impact in the OHRQoL. Important aspects like gender and skin color did not have their level of impact clarified.
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) vs Children and adolescents without JIA (healthy peers)

Evidence on OHRQoL was limited: one study found no significant difference between groups while another found orofacial symptoms affected daily life more in JIA; no pooled estimate (ungraded).

• Oral health in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis - a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2019 All outcomes

  Brazil (Santos 2015) and Sweden (Leksell 2012)
  Santos et al. [29] found oral health status had little or no effect on well-being with no significant difference between JIA and healthy groups (SF:13-B-PCPQ); Leksell et al. [38] found orofacial symptoms influenced…
  2 studies · 111 participants
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with 24-month recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Clinical examination with 24-month recall showed no clear difference in oral-health-related quality of life (OHIP-14) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (high certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD -0.24 [-1.55, 1.07]
  1 study · 305 participants
  High

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 24-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in oral-health-related quality of life (OHIP-14) compared with clinical examination with 24-month recall (high certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD -0.37 [-1.69, 0.95]
  1 study · 298 participants
  High

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in oral-health-related quality of life (OHIP-14) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (high certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD -0.35 [-1.02, 0.32]
  1 study · 1551 participants
  High