Quality of life and other psychological factors in patients with tooth wear

Aim To investigate the relationship between generic and condition-specific (CS) quality of life, general psychological wellbeing and personality in patients with tooth wear. Materials and methods Ethical approval was granted (REC:10/H0709/21). Patients aged 18-70 years with tooth wear completed the Oral Impact on Daily Performance (OIDP) quality of life questionnaire, the NEO-FFI Personality questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ). Tooth wear was measured with the Basic Erosive Wear Examination (BEWE). Results In total, 102 subjects were recruited. Increased BEWE scores were correlated with older age and worse generic and CS-related quality of life. Increased neuroticism was correlated with increased: generic and CS OIDP scores; generic and CS eating scores; CS smiling scores; and CS carrying out major work scores. Increased GHQ scores were positively correlated with increased: generic and CS OIDP scores; generic and CS eating scores; CS speaking scores; generic and CS cleaning scores; generic relaxing scores; generic and CS smiling scores; and generic emotional state scores (p<0.05). Multivariable linear regression analyses showed that increased neuroticism and decreased GHQ both had an independent effect on generic and CS OIDP scores when adjusted for tooth wear severity (p<0.05). Conclusion Quality of life perception is complex and was not only affected by worsening levels of tooth wear.