Dental caries in Rwanda: A scoping review

Dental caries is an infectious disease affecting virtually all nations, including Rwanda. In Rwanda, the burden of dental caries is an issue of public health concern. To ensure the progressive eradication of the current dental caries burden in Rwanda through an evidence-based approach, it is imperative to have an overview of the scientific research landscape of dental caries in the country. This study-a scoping review-aims to review the available evidence and gaps on dental caries in Rwanda.

This scoping review was reported based on the Preferred Reporting Items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. A systematic search of 11 databases was done to scoop out all literature relevant to the topic. Based on the review's selection criteria, a total of eight peer-reviewed journal articles were included in the review. The extracted data were collated, summarized, and presented as results.

The analysis of the data extracted from the included articles revealed a high prevalence of dental caries (ranging from 42.42% to 71.5%) in Rwanda. Also, the major pathogens causing dental caries in Rwanda as well as the impact of dental caries on the physical health and quality of life of Rwandans were identified in this review. Furthermore, the reported operative treatment options for dental caries in Rwanda were predominantly nonconservative. Also, no intervention study has been conducted on dental caries in Rwanda.

The findings in this review identify the need for massive public health interventions on dental caries in Rwanda.