SynthesisBMC pediatrics2019
Body mass index and dental caries in young people: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC pediatrics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2025Pooled it
- Obesity/overweight and dental caries experience in children and adolescents: an umbrella review.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2024Pooled it
- Childhood obesity in relation to risk of dental caries: a cumulative and dose-response systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2024Pooled it
- Overweight/obesity and dental caries in Brazilian children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Brazilian oral research · 2024Pooled it
- Prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition amongst 12-year-olds in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2022Pooled it
- Selecting Risk of Bias Tools for Observational Studies for a Systematic Review of Anthropometric Measurements and Dental Caries among Children.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Is Obesity Associated With Dental Caries in Primary Dentition? Findings From a Birth Cohort in Southern Brazil.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2026Article
- Obesity and Dental Caries: A State-of-the-Art Review of Shared Risk Factors, Biological Mechanisms and Current Evidence.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Exploring BMI and DMFT Indexes of Male Islamic Boarding School Students in Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of dental research, dental clinics, dental prospects · 2026Article
- Exploring the association between BMI and dental caries in 6-9-year-old children in Damascus, Syria: a cross-sectional study.BDJ open · 2025Article
- Dietary diversity and food groups associated with early childhood caries in a suburban community in Nigeria.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Associations Between Diet, Oral Health, and General Development in Romanian School-Age Children.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Oral hygiene status, oral health-related behaviors, sleep, body mass index and dental caries prevalence of a sample aged five from Southwest China: a cross-sectional survey.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Article
- The impact of diet and oral hygiene on dental caries among Turkish children: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Structural equation modeling of the association between oral health literacy and dental caries in children.Brazilian oral research · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Obesity and Dental Caries in Kindergarten Children During the First Decade of Saudi Vision 2030: A Cross-Sectional Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Differences in Physical Activity Levels, Screen Time, and Body Mass Index and Their Associations with Oral Health in Schoolchildren in Mallorca.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Inequalities in children's tooth decay requiring dental extraction under general anaesthetic: a longitudinal study using linked electronic health records.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Dental decay in children and the link to weight status: A cross-sectional analysis of national school health data.The Saudi dental journal · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundObesity and caries in young people are issues of public health concern. Even though research into the relationship between the two conditions has been conducted for many years, to date the results remain equivocal. The aim of this paper was to determine the nature of the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and caries in children and adolescents, by conducting a systematic review of the published literature.
methodsA systematic search of studies examining the association between BMI and caries in individuals younger than 18 years old was conducted. The electronic bibliographic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL and Google Scholar were searched. References of included studies were checked to identify further potential studies. Internal and external validity as well as reporting quality were assessed using the validated Methodological Evaluation of Observational Research checklist. Results were stratified based on the risk of flaws in 14 domains 10 of which were considered major and four minor.
resultsOf the 4208 initially identified studies, 84 papers met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review; conclusions were mainly drawn from 7 studies at lower risk of flaws. Three main types of association between BMI and caries were found: 26 studies showed a positive relationship, 19 showed a negative association, and 43 found no association between the variables of interest. Some studies showed more than one pattern of association. Assessment of confounders was the domain most commonly found to be flawed, followed by sampling and research specific bias. Among the seven studies which were found to be at lower risk of being flawed, five found no association between BMI and caries and two showed a positive association between these two variables.
conclusionsEvidence of an association between BMI and caries was inconsistent. Based on the studies with a low risk lower risk of being flawed, a positive association between the variables of interest was found mainly in older children. In younger children, the evidence was equivocal. Longitudinal studies examining the association between different indicators of obesity and caries over the life course will help shed light in their complex relationship.
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Registered trials
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