Effects of Academic Performance and Emotional Intelligence on Oral Hygiene Status of Adolescent Orthodontic Patients

Abstract

Background: This study assessed the effects of academic performance and emotional intelligence on good oral health maintenance among adolescents undergoing orthodontic treatment at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Method: The study was conducted among 23 adolescent patients on fixed orthodontic appliance treatment in OAUTHC, Ile
Ife, Nigeria. Oral hygiene status was assessed objectively using the simplified Greene and Vermillion's Oral Hygiene Index.
An adapted questionnaire on emotional intelligence by Haralur and associates was administered. The academic performance
was based on patients' academic records in the last one year.
Results: The majority of the adolescent patients were in a very good (52.2%) grade. None of the patients reported with very fair,
fair, and poor grades. Similarly, most of the patients were in high (43.2%) and average (39.1%) emotional intelligence
categories. Only 17.4 per cent showed low emotional intelligence. About two-thirds (60.9%) of patients had fair oral hygiene
status with oral hygiene scores ranging between 1.3 and 3.0. Only one patient had poor oral hygiene with a score of 3.1 to 6.0.
There was a significant association between academic performance and oral hygiene index scores (P= 0.032). However, no
statistically significant relationship was observed between the emotional intelligence and the oral hygiene index scores of
patients (p=0.162).

Conclusion: The study concluded that emotional intelligence had no significant effect on the oral hygiene status of orthodontic
patients. However, the high academic performance of orthodontic patients was significantly related to better and favourable
oral hygiene status.