Dental pain, parental SARS-CoV-2 fear and distress on quality of life of 2 to 6 year-old children during COVID-19

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has crippled life, families and oral healthcare delivery in India due to nationwide lockdown. Aim: Through cross-sectional design, we investigated the impact of child's dental pain, caregiver's fear of SARS-CoV-2 and parental distress on oral health–related quality of life (OHRQOL) of preschoolers during the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Design: Preschool children self-reported their pain using Pieces of Hurt scale; caregiver SARS-CoV-2 fear was assessed using Fear of COVID-19 scale and parental distress evaluated using 4-item scale. Child's oral health was assessed using the dmft index and OHRQOL evaluated using early childhood oral health impact scale. Bivariate, multivariate regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors; statistical significance was set at 5%. Results: Sample mean age was 4.58 years, and about 69% were boys. Children reporting higher pain scores (OR = 1.9) due to decayed teeth and having dmft > 5 (OR = 4.25), followed by greater parental distress (OR = 4.13) and fear of SARS-CoV-2 (OR = 3.84), were significantly associated with poor OHRQOL during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Greater parental distress and fear of COVID-19 among caregivers, higher self-perceived dental pain among children and caries experience are associated with poor OHRQOL of preschool children during the COVID-19 pandemic.