Dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children’s worldwide, 1995 to 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Early childhood caries (ECC) is a type of dental caries in the teeth of infants and children that is represented as one of the most prevalent dental problems in this period. Various studies have reported different types of prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children worldwide. However, there has been no comprehensive study to summarize the results of these studies in general, so this study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children in different continents of the world during a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods In this review study, articles were extracted by searching in the national and international databases of SID, MagIran, IranMedex, IranDoc, Cochrane, Embase, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science (ISI) between 1995 and December 2019. Random effects model was used for analysis and heterogeneity of studies was evaluated by using the I2 index. Data were analyzed by using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (Version 2) software. Findings In this study, a total of 164 articles (81 articles on the prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth and 83 articles on the prevalence of dental caries in permanent teeth) were entered the meta-analysis. The prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth in children in the world with a sample size of 80,405 was 46.2% (95% CI: 41.6–50.8%), and the prevalence of dental caries in permanent teeth in children in the world with a sample size of 1,454,871 was 53.8% (95% CI: 50–57.5%). Regarding the heterogeneity on the basis of meta-regression analysis, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children in different continents of the world. With increasing the sample size and the year of study, dental caries in primary teeth increased and in permanent teeth decreased. Conclusion The results of this study showed that the prevalence of primary and permanent dental caries in children in the world was found to be high. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be implemented to improve the aforementioned situation and to troubleshoot and monitor at all levels by providing feedback to hospitals.

Microbiome of Saliva and Plaque in Children According to Age and Dental Caries Experience

“…Dental caries is a common infectious disease that affects people of all ages and both genders worldwide. Although the prevalence of dental caries is decreasing, it can still be found in more than 50% of children [1,2]. The mechanism of dental caries fundamentally comes from the balance of demineralization and remineralization in the tooth structures [3].…”

Evaluation of Biodentine in Pulpotomies of Primary Teeth with Different Stages of Root Resorption Using a Novel Composite Outcome Score

“…Nowadays, dental caries in primary teeth continues to be an important oral health problem which affects a large part of the worldwide child population, with an overall prevalence of 46.2% [ 1 ]. The maintenance of deciduous teeth until exfoliation represents a crucial goal in pediatric dentistry to prevent aesthetic, phonetic and functional problems and to preserve the space for the eruption of permanent teeth [ 2 ].…”

Dietary Patterns and Oral Health Behaviours Associated with Caries Development from 4 to 7 Years of Age

“…A systematic review with a meta-analysis, which was recently published in order to determine the prevalence of this disease in primary and permanent dentition in children from different continents, showed that dental caries affects 46.2% and 53.8% of children in primary and permanent dentition, respectively [ 2 ]. Due to its worrying incidence and other characteristics that are related to its pathophysiological process, dental caries continues to represent an important public health problem in paediatric age [ 3 ].…”