The impact of oral health on quality of life of Dutch adults

As part of a large-scale oral health/epidemiological research project among adults in 's-Hertogenbosch, the impact of a number of clinical and demographic variables on quality of life was studied. Quality of life was measured with the help of the Dutch version of the abridged Oral Health Impact Profile. Half of those questioned appeared to experience no negative impact at all from their oral health on their quality of life. Those with poor oral health and a low level of education were especially likely to have a high score on the Oral Health Impact Profile. The average score of 2.8 was lower than the revealed averages in research in Australia (7), England (5) and New Zealand (8). It was concluded that oral health appears to have an impact on the quality of life of a population although the correlational research format did not permit causational judgements.