Background: Periodontal research has traditionally focused on the site level, regarding etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment outcome. Recently, some studies have indicated that the presence of periodontal disease is associated with reduced quality of life. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of periodontal disease experience on the quality of life.

Methods: This cross-sectional study includes 443 individuals. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed; in conjunction, the oral health-related quality of life of all participants was assessed using the Swedish short-form version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Based on marginal bone loss, measured on radiographs, three different groups were identified: participants with loss of supporting bone tissue of less than one third of the root length (BL-), loss of supporting bone tissue of one third or more of the root length in <30% of teeth (BL), or loss of supporting bone tissue of one third or more of the root length in 30% of teeth (BL+).

Results: The effect of periodontal disease experience on quality of life was considerable. For the BL- group, the mean OHIP-14 score was 3.91 (SD: 5.39). The corresponding mean values were 3.81 (SD: 5.29) for the BL group and 8.47 (SD: 10.38) for the BL+ group. The difference among all groups was statistically significant (P 0.001). A comparison among the mean OHIP-14 scores in the different groups (BL-, BL, and BL+) revealed significant differences in six of seven conceptual domains.

Conclusions: The BL+ individuals experienced reduced quality of life, expressed as the OHIP-14 score, compared with the BL and BL- participants.