3. RESULTS
A total of 99 children were included, of whom 49 (25 girls and 24 boys) were in the HM group and 50 (24 girls and 26 boys) were healthy volunteers. The mean age of the entire study group was 78.63 ± 34.41 months. The mean age of the HM and control groups was 87.12 ± 35.04 and 70.95 ± 34.85 months, respectively (p = 0.08). No significant gender difference was observed between the groups (p = 0.70) Of the children in the HM group, 41 were diagnosed with ALL, 8 with AML. No significant difference in the parental education level was observed between the groups (p = 0.12)The mean DMFT/dmft score was 5.76 ± 5.21 and 7.27 ± 4.98 in the control and HM groups, respectively (p = 0.22). Regarding the dentition period, 43.3% of the children in the control group had deciduous dentition and 53.7% had mixed dentition. A total of 26.1% of the children in the HM group had deciduous dentition, 55.1% had mixed dentition, and 34.4% had permanent dentition (p = 0.02). Regarding the occlusion type, 56% of the control group had Class 1 closure, compared to 95% of the HM group (p = 0.01). According to the SOHI, 46.7%, 30% and 23.3% of the control group had good, poor and bad oral hygiene, respectively, compared to 24.1%, 31%, and 44.8% of the HM group. Oral hygiene was significantly better in the control than HM group (p = 0.04) (Table 1).
No significant difference in total ECOHIS score was observed between the groups. Children in the HM group had significantly more mouth-jaw pain than those in the control group according to the ECOHIS-T (p = 0.05). No significant differences in eating hot and cold foods, drinking, speaking, or school attendance were observed between the HM and control groups (p = 0.60, 0.13, 0.40, and 0.15, respectively). No significant differences in scores on the items pertaining to psychological processes, self-perception and social interaction (e.g., falling asleep due to dental pain and treatment, irritability/restlessness, and fear of talking) were observed between the groups (p = 0.87, 0.94, and 0.64, respectively). Hesitancy to smile and laugh was significantly greater in the HM than in control group (p = 0.035). No significant differences in discomfort caused by dental problems and treatments, feeling guilty, taking a break from work, or financial problems were observed between the groups (p > 0.05) (Table 2).
The DMFT/dmft score was highly correlated with the SOHI and ECOHIS-T scores (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient = 0.707 and 0.721, respectively; Table 3).