Social Impact of Children's Dental Appearance

This study evaluates the social impact of children's dental perception from children with or without caries experience. For this, children and their parents are shown pictures of child faces with healthy teeth, decayed teeth and teeth after dental treatment.

Appearance and abnormalities in the face influences the life of children: attractive children get estimated as more competent and find friends easier than those with a less attractive appearance. Therefore this study aimes to evaluate the social impact of children's dental perception from children with or without own caries experience (and their parents). Both groups (with/without caries experience) are shown pictures of children with different dental status (healthy teeth, decayed teeth and teeth after dental treatment) and asked to complete established questionnaires.The division into the groups is based on photos of the children with visible teeth. The results should be evaluated descriptively and graphically. Also the comparison between the answers of both groups for the three different dental status is planned.