Caries is a hard-tissue disease commonly found on untreated teeth and may lead to pulp inflammation; thus, children with caries would feel discomfort that could influence their quality of life. Salivary cortisol level is known as an oral cavity inflammatory biomarker to analyze the quality of life through salivary cortisol in 8- to 10-year-old children with caries. Respondent criteria are children ages 8-10 years who live in the same house and who do not have systemic diseases. Data were collected by filling out a modified version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 8-10, and respondents' saliva samples were collected 2 hours after the respondents awoke. A Salimetrics cortisol kit was used to analyze the cortisol level. Data were analyzed statistically by a Pearson test. The result shows weak correlations with positive value. Children with a high caries incidence have a low oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) status and a low salivary cortisol level. OHRQoL in a caries incidence has a weak correlation with salivary cortisol level in children ages 8-10 years. OHRQoL in a caries incidence in this study is one of a few factors that influence correlation in salivary cortisol level, and vice versa. © 2018, University of Dicle.