Early Childhood Caries and Weight Status: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to: (1) examine the association between body weight status and caries experience; and (2) determine if overweight or underweight children are at greater risk of developing early childhood caries. Methods: A search of studies in PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases that tested the association of body weight with dental caries index in preschool children was conducted in April 2018. Studies' characteristics were extracted for the qualitative review, and means and standard deviations of decayed, missing, and filled teeth/surfaces (dmft/dmfs) index by body mass index standardized categories were retrieved for quantitative syntheses. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted by calculating the mean difference and the associated 95 percent confidence intervals. Results: A total of 293 studies were identified through the databases' search. Thirty-two qualified for qualitative review and 12 of them reported data to conduct a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that overweight/obese children are at a statistically significant greater risk of having early childhood caries (P<0.01). Conclusions: The results of the included studies were inconsistent; however, the meta-analysis suggested that overweight/obese children are at greater risk of having early childhood caries.