Dental caries prevalence status in Saudi Arabia and neighboring eastern countries in the last decade – a review

Abstract

The global prevalence of dental caries and decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) is variable in developed and developing countries. Reviews show that dental caries is also adversely affecting the oral health of children in Arab countries. The present review was planned for the data published from 2011 to 2021 to know the current status of the caries prevalence and dmft among children. The review showed an overall prevalence rate of 65.24% in a total of 15319 children with mean dmft score of 3.81 ± 2.97. Four prevalence studies showed average dmft of 5.21 ± 4.01 and 5.29 ± 4.09 for males (988) and females (1060) respectively. The mean dental caries prevalence for the last decade was found to be found decreased compared to the previous two decades but there is no variation in the prevalence rate.