Abstract
BackgroundThe association between caries index, which is diagnosed by Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT), and asthma has been assessed in several studies, which yielded contradictory results. Meta-analysis is the statistical procedure for combining data from multiple studies and reducing the differences among parameters due to the increased number of studies involved in the analysis process. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the relationship between dental caries using decayed, missing, filled teeth indices (DMFT, dmft, and DMFS indices) and asthma using meta-analysis.MethodsDatabases were searched using such keywords as “Asthma,” “Caries,” “DMFT,” “DMFS,” “Iran,” and OR operators, AND, and NOT. After the elimination of duplicate documentation, the articles which met the inclusion criteria were selected. Quality assessment was performed based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Checklist (NOS). After that, standardized mean difference (SMD) of DMFT, dmft, and Decayed, Missing, and Filled Surfaces (DMFS) indices were estimated.ResultsThe number of 10 evidence was extracted out of nine studies in which mean oral health indices were compared between asthmatic patients and the control group. Out of 10 evidences that examined the association of DMFT, dmft, and DMFS with asthma, these indices were higher in asthmatic patients than the control group in seven cases. In three cases, these differences were statistically significant. The SMD of DMFT, dmft, and DMFS indices between asthmatic patients and the control group at the confidence level of 95% were reported as 0.29 (− 0.05, 0.62), 0.48 (− 0.20, 1.17), and − 0.05(− 0.30, 0.21), respectively.ConclusionAccording to the results, the prevalence of dental caries is higher among patients with asthma than in the control group. Therefore, having asthma could be considered a risk factor for the development of dental caries.
Highlights
Oral health is one of the crucial factors that contribute to people’s general health [1]
Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between asthma and oral health; they have yielded contradictory results. Some of these findings suggested a positive association between asthma and caries [13,14,15] while, some others did not report such a relationship and believed that no significant difference would be found in caries prevalence between asthmatic patients and healthy individuals if they observe dental care [16,17,18]
Out of 10 evidence that examined the relationship of DMFT, dmft, and DMFS with asthma, in 7 cases, these indices were higher in asthmatic patients than the control group [28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36]
Summary
Oral health is one of the crucial factors that contribute to people’s general health [1]. The DMFT index (Decaymissing-filled teeth index) is one of the best epidemiological indices in dentistry that reflects oral and dental health in the community. It is known as the caries index [2]. Asthma is a chronic respiratory syndrome that causes inflammation, irritability, and stenosis (spasm) of the lung’s airways [4] This disease is characterized by the infiltration of mast cells, eosinophils, and lymphocytes, which results in airway hypersensitivity, mucosal edema, and mucus production [5]. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between dental caries using decayed, missing, filled teeth indices (DMFT, dmft, and DMFS indices) and asthma using meta-analysis
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