Dental caries and developmental defects of enamel in cerebral palsy: A meta‐analysis
Thaynara Nascimento de Oliveira, Victor Zanetti Drumond, José Alcides Almeida de Arruda, Sharat Chandra Pani, Fabiana Vargas‐Ferreira, Ricardo Rabelo Eustachio, Ricardo Alves Mesquita, Lucas Guimarães Abreu- General Dentistry
- Otorhinolaryngology
Abstract
Objective
This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to compare the occurrence of dental caries and developmental defects of enamel (DDE) in individuals with and without cerebral palsy (CP).
Materials and Methods
We conducted searches across five databases and the grey literature. Data were organized using EndNote 20. Reporting followed the MOOSE checklist. A random‐effects model meta‐analyses were conducted using RStudio, presenting results as mean difference (MD), odds ratio (OR), and 95% confidence interval (CI). The risk of bias of studies was analyzed using the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale, and the certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.
Results
Among 1336 identified records, 25 studies involving 59,997 participants (mean age: 11.1 years) were included. Data of 12 were pooled into meta‐analyses. No significant differences were found between CP and non‐CP individuals across indices: DMFT (k = 7) (MD = 0.31; 95% CI [−0.42–1.05]), dmft (k = 4) (MD = 0.31; 95% CI [−0.50–1.14]), DMFS (k = 2) (MD = −0.61; 95% CI [−20.56–19.33]), dmfs (k = 3) (MD = 0.54; 95% CI [−1.09–2.17]), and DDE (k = 3) (OR = 0.80, 95% CI [0.09–7.31]). The certainty of evidence was very low.
Conclusion
Individuals with CP do not appear to differ significantly from those without CP in terms of dental caries experience and DDE.