Dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children's worldwide, 1995 to 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a type of dental caries in the teeth of infants and children that is represented as one of the most prevalent dental problems in this period. Various studies have reported different types of prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children worldwide. However, there has been no comprehensive study to summarize the results of these studies in general, so this study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children in different continents of the world during a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: In this review study, articles were extracted by searching in the national and international databases of SID, MagIran, IranMedex, IranDoc, Cochrane, Embase, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science (ISI) between 1995 and December 2019. Random effects model was used for analysis and heterogeneity of studies was evaluated by using the I2 index. Data were analyzed by using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (Version 2) software. Findings: In this study, a total of 164 articles (81 articles on the prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth and 83 articles on the prevalence of dental caries in permanent teeth) were entered the meta-analysis. The prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth in children in the world with a sample size of 80,405 was 46.2% (95% CI: 41.6–50.8%), and the prevalence of dental caries in permanent teeth in children in the world with a sample size of 1,454,871 was 53.8% (95% CI: 50–57.5%). Regarding the heterogeneity on the basis of meta-regression analysis, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children in different continents of the world. With increasing the sample size and the year of study, dental caries in primary teeth increased and in permanent teeth decreased. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the prevalence of primary and permanent dental caries in children in the world was found to be high. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be implemented to improve the aforementioned situation and to troubleshoot and monitor at all levels by providing feedback to hospitals

The Philippines

The Philippines is a large archipelago of over 7000 islands, mostly lined by coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests, and surrounded by waters with variable currents driven by a reversing monsoon system. The islands have narrow coastal plains, north-south mountain ranges, active volcanoes, and high seismological activity. These elements, along with the country’s complex geologic history and geographic position, make the Philippines one of the most biologically diverse, most disaster prone, and most environmentally threatened in the world. High dependence on coastal resources, overfishing and destructive fishing, and high rates of habitat loss make fishers in the country the poorest of the poor. The large population sizes and disproportionate impact of climate change here makes the poor’s situation worse. However, the country remains resource-rich, and its people have proven to be very resilient. More habitats are being protected and rehabilitated, and successful community-based fisheries management efforts are now being upscaled to higher governance levels. Although more conservation and management efforts are needed, there is much that could be learned from the Philippine experience. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved