Prevalence and Associated Factors of Erosive Tooth Wear among Preschool Children—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The prevalence of dental erosion among preschool children and its associated factors range widely between studies. The aims of this review are to evaluate the literature and to determine the prevalence and associated factors of dental erosion among children below 7 years old. An electronic search was undertaken to identify observational studies evaluating the prevalence of dental erosion and its associated factors in children below 7 years old. Dual independent screening, data extraction, risk of bias assessment, meta-analysis, meta-regression, and evaluation of quality of evidence were performed. Twenty-two papers were included. The overall estimated prevalence of dental erosion in children was 39.64% (95% CI: 27.62, 51.65; I2 = 99.9%), with very low certainty of evidence. There was also low-quality evidence suggesting that the likelihood of (1) boys having dental erosion was significantly higher than girls (p < 0.001) and (2) children with digestive disorders having dental erosion was significantly higher than those without such digestive disorders (p = 0.002). Qualitative synthesis identified that more frequent intake of fruit juices and soft drinks correlated with erosive tooth wear. Dental erosion is prevalent among over one-third of preschool children. Digestive disorders and dietary factors are the main potential contributing factors.