Iron Deficiency Anemia in Children with and Without Dental Caries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Context: Dental caries is a complication affecting the health of society, so it is vital to manage. Most children with early childhood caries (ECC) are believed to undergo anemia, altered physical growth patterns, and low weight. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between dental caries and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in children. Evidence Acquisition: The medical subject headings (MeSH) and non-MeSH were applied to choose the search terms. English language case-control studies assessing blood factors associated with IDA in children with and without dental caries were potentially eligible. Two independent researchers carried out an electronic search to retrieve studies published in the English language on Scopus, ProQuest, PubMed, and Web of Science databases in October 2020. Initially, 494 articles were obtained. Of them, 17 were eligible for inclusion, of which eight studies were eliminated. The meta-analysis was done using the comprehensive meta-analysis software (version 2, Biostat). The forest plots estimated the mean difference and depicted the results of the meta-analysis. The Egger's and Begg's tests assessed the publication bias. Results: A significant difference was observed in serum ferritin levels between the case and control groups, with a mean difference of -0.230 (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.446 to -0.015; P value = 0.008). Blood hemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) levels indicated significant mean differences of -0.991 (95% CI: -1.813 to -0.169) and -0.807 (95% CI: -1.336 to -0.279), respectively (P value < 0001). In the case group, all three blood parameters were significantly lower. Conclusions: Hemoglobin, serum ferritin, and MCV levels are lower in children with dental caries than in caries-free children.

Early Childhood Caries Prevalence & Associated Factors In A Low Income Urban Community Of Karachi

“…Clarke et al observed higher prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in children with ECC, compared to population reference values 22 . Schroth colleagues compared Severe ECC children with caries free children and found lower mean Hb in children with Severe ECC, and 6 times greater odds of iron deficiency anemia compared to caries free children 23. Similarly, Tang and colleagues reported more than 7 times greater odds of anemia in children with higher number of carious tooth surfaces (>35 DEFS) compared to those having lesser number of affected tooth surfaces (<35 DEFS) 23 . Study used a different modelling approach and observed that caries severity is higher in children with anemia, which is consistent with these previous studies 24 Our information was collected through the child's mother, this was an advantage as direct interaction was done.…”