Introduction. Evaluating an individual's quality of life can provide valuable insights into their overall health status and the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. This study aimed to evaluate how dental caries (DC) and its treatment affect the quality of life (QoL) of school-age children. Material and methods. A crosssectional prospective study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Oral-Maxillo-Facial Surgery and Pedodontics "Ion Lupan" of the "Nicolae Testemițanu" SUMPh. The study group (Gr1) comprised 82 children with DC and the control group (Gr0) included 82 children without DC. QoL was evaluated using the Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Child-OIDP) questionnaire. The correlation between the severity of tooth decay and its impact on children's QoL was determined using the Spearman ρ coefficient and data was analyzed using Epi-Info. Results. Out of the 164 respondents, 48.1% experienced at least one impact, with eating (23.2%) and smiling (19.1%) being the most affected daily performances, while playing (0.7%) and schoolwork (1.2%) were the least affected. Bleeding gums (38.8%), injury (26.7%), and sensitivity (32.6%) were the main causes of impact, and adolescents reported an average of 1.2 pathologies as perceived causes. There was a significant positive association between DC indicators and the impact on QoL, indicating increased treatment needs and insufficient access to dental care. Conclusion. The significant prevalence of DC negatively affecting the quality of life (QoL) of children indicates a deficiency in the provision of dental services for this demographic.