Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL) is the perceived impact of one's 
own oral health on daily life. Oral diseases influence children's OHRQOL 
directly, but OHRQOL might also be related to oral health experiences from the 
past. We investigate the relation between dental caries at the age of 6 with 
OHRQOL assessed at the age of 10. This study was conducted within the Generation 
R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study. Caries experience was 
assessed with the decayed, missing, and filled teeth index (dmft) at a median 
age of 6.09 years (90% range: 5.73-6.80). OHRQOL was assessed with a short form 
of the Child Oral Health Impact Profile at the children's age of 9.79 years 
(9.49-10.44). In total, 2,833 children participated in this study, of whom 472 
(16.6%) had mild caries (dmft 1-3) and 228 (8.0%) had severe caries (dmft >3). 
The higher the dmft score at the age of 6, the lower the OHRQOL at the age of 10 
(p < 0.001). The children with severe caries at the age of 6 had significantly 
higher odds of being in the lowest OHRQOL quartile at the age of 10 (OR = 1.69; 
95% CI: 1.17-2.45). Our study highlights the importance of oral health during 
childhood, because those who get a compromised start to oral health are much 
more likely to follow a trajectory which will lead to poor oral health (-related 
QOL) later. OHRQOL is not only related to current oral health experiences but 
also to oral health experiences from the past.