Abstract
Background: Dental caries affects mastication, growth and development, and school attendance and has a long-term psychological effect on affected individuals. In developing countries, the prevalence of dental caries is increasing due to the growing consumption of sugary foods, poor tooth brushing habits, and a low level of awareness about dental caries. Even if there was a high prevalence of dental caries in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a paucity of data on the prevalence of dental caries in East Africa. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries and associated factors in East Africa.Methods: A systematic search of articles was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar using all the synonyms of dental caries in published literature (until December 2020) in East Africa. Important data were extracted using a standardized data extraction form prepared in Excel. Stata software (version 14.0) was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of dental caries. Besides, subgroup analysis was done based on country and dentition type. Moreover, associated factors of dental caries were assessed and the overall effect was presented in the form of odds ratios. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute reviewers' manual.Results: The overall pooled prevalence of dental caries was found to be 45.7% (95% CI = 38.0–53.4). The pooled prevalence was high in Eritrea (65.2%, 95% CI = 49.2–81.1), followed by Sudan (57.8%, 95% CI = 36.0–79.7), and a low prevalence was found in Tanzania (30.7%, 95% CI = 21.5–39.9). Moreover, the subgroup analysis revealed a prevalence of 50% (95% CI = 38.4–62.1) in permanent dentition and 41.3% (95% CI = 33.5–49.2) in mixed dentition. The overall mean decayed, missed, and filled permanent (DMFT) and primary (dmft) teeth were 1.941 (95% CI = 1.561–2.322) and 2.237 (95% CI = 1.293–3.181), respectively. High DMFT scores were reported in Sudan (3.146, 95% CI = 1.050–5.242) and Uganda (2.876, 95% CI = 2.186–3.565). Being female (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.24–1.46) and having poor tooth brushing habit (OR = 1.967, 95% CI = 1.67–2.33) were independent risk factors of dental caries.Conclusion: The overall prevalence of dental caries was comparatively high. Being female and poor oral health practice were independent risk factors of dental caries. The Ministry of Health of the member countries, along with dental associations of each country, ought to offer due attention to strengthen the oral health program in schools and primary health care centers and the implementation of school water fluoridation.
Highlights
Dental caries affects mastication, growth and development, and school attendance and has a long-term psychological effect on affected individuals
Observational studies were done on the prevalence of dental caries and associated factors in East African countries
A total of 10 studies were included in the analysis, and the results revealed that those who had no tooth brushing practice were 1.967 times at risk of developing dental caries (OR = 1.967, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.205–3.211) (Table 2)
Summary
Growth and development, and school attendance and has a long-term psychological effect on affected individuals. Dental caries is a bacterial infectious disease that affects the calcified tissue of the tooth and causes dissolution of the organic component and demineralization of the inorganic portion [1] It is caused by bacterial plaque deposition on the surface of the tooth [2, 3], and frequent consumption of fermentable carbohydrates facilitates the progression of cavitation. The treatment cost in low-income countries alone exceeds the total child health care cost [9] This disease is found in all socioeconomic strata and affects the quality of life, school attendance, eating practices, growth, and the development of children and has psychological impacts on the performance of patients [3,4,5]. Dental caries costs US $298 billion in direct treatment costs to the global economy, 4.6% of the global health budget, and 144 billion losses due to loss of productivity [11]
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