Prevalence of dental caries and their relation to oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) among national contact sports athletes: a cross-sectional study

Aim: The prevalence of caries is a valuable index used for determining and monitoring the oral health status among the population and in general believed to be impactful towards the quality of life. The study aimed to determine decayed (D), missing (M), and filled (F) teeth index and its relation to the quality of life among national contact sports athletes. Materials and Methods: A total of 84 national athletes of age 18-36 years old were recruited by cluster sample method from rugby, silat, and hockey teams of the National Sports Institute of Malaysia. The intraoral examination was done for Decayed-Missing-Filled (DMFT) index using World Health Organization's criteria and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) tool was distributed for oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). The collected data were analyzed using t-test, analysis of variance, and Pearson statistics. Results: From this study, 77.62% of athletes reported a prevalence of dental caries with a moderate mean DMFT index of 2.79 +/- 2.87. On the basis of OHIP-14, most athletes (85.71%) reported a low impact level with mean 9.036 +/- 7.635. The Pearson correlation showed that missing (M) (r = 0.324, P = 0.003) and total DMFT (r = 0.261, P = 0.017) had a significant positive relationship with the total OHIP-14. It affected the OHIP-14 domains of social disability, handicap, psychological discomfort, and psychological disability (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of caries among contact sports athletes is ongoing toward remarkable improvement. However, missing (M) and total DMFT were found to be a significant impact on the OHRQoL of athletes. Hence, it is important to impart preventive measures for dental caries that will attribute to the quality of life.