evaluation of dental status and its association with oral health-related quality of life in preschool children in zahedan city, iran: a cross-sectional study

Background: several factors can affect the oral health-related quality of life in children. objectives: the aim of this study was to evaluate the dental status and its relationship with the oral health-related quality of life in preschool children in zahedan city, iran. methods: in this descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study, 200 preschool children (5-6 years old) were randomly selected from different areas of zahedan city. dental health status of children was investigated using the decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) questionnaire. oral-health-related quality of life of the children and their parents was measured using the farsi version of the early childhood oral health impact scale (f-ecohis index). data were analyzed using spss version 20, statistical t-test and pearson correlation coefficient at the significant level of 0.05. results:the mean scores of f ecohis and dmft for all studied children were 10.94 ± 7.67 and 5.05 ± 4.48, respectively. no significant relationship was found between the dmft and f-ecohis indices in children (r = 0.26, p = 0.563) and their parents (r = 0.16, p = 0.217). conclusions: under the limitations of the present study, there is no significant relationship between the dmft index and the index of oral health-related quality of life. further studies are recommended.