Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39379760›Full record

SynthesisJournal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine2025

Area-Level Factors of Dental Caries in Children and Adolescents in European Neighborhoods - a Systematic Review.

Zacharias Joel Schulze, Franziska Schubert, Christian Ralf Gernhardt, Nele Krayl, Anna Peters, Susanne Unverzagt, Karoline Wagner, Andreas Wienke, Amand Führer

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Zacharias Joel SchulzeInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany. zacharias.schulze@uk-halle.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-7422-1505
Franziska SchubertInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Christian Ralf GernhardtUniversity Outpatient Clinic for Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, Department of Dentistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Nele KraylInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Anna PetersUniversity Outpatient Clinic for Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, Department of Dentistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Susanne UnverzagtInstitute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Karoline WagnerInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Andreas WienkeInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Amand FührerInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The WHO emphasizes the importance of taking area-level factors into account when formulating public health interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to identify which area-level factors are associated with children's dental caries in Europe and might therefore be a suitable starting point for public health interventions. We conducted a systematic review based on a search in PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library including all European studies on caries in children and their area-level factors published since the year 2000 in English or German. We included 39 studies and identified 13 area-level factors investigated in the literature: degree of urbanization, deprivation, mean housing price, gross-national product, mean level of education, unemployment proportion and income, density of supermarkets, snack bars and dental offices, health, diet, and crime. Rural residency and higher unemployment were weakly associated with poorer oral health regarding dental caries. Deprivation showed a stronger (inverse) association. For income, findings were ambiguous; studies showed associations in both directions. For the other determinants, the included studies found no association. Many studies reported associations between place of residence and children's dental caries, but the mediators on this causal path are still not clearly established. The area-level factors analyzed in this review seem to play a role, but more studies with designs that allow causal interpretation of findings are needed to establish solid robust evidence that can be used in the formulation of future health policies.

Indexed as

Dental CariesNeighborhood CharacteristicsResidence CharacteristicsAdolescentChildEuropeHumansOral HealthRisk FactorsSocioeconomic FactorsChild healthDental cariesSocial determinants of healthSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID39379760
PMCPMC11865373

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.