LAUSR

AIM This study aimed to investigate the relationship between food insecurity (FI) and dental caries prevalence in children and adolescents. DESIGN MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, SCOPUS, ISI web of knowledge, Cochrane, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses databases (up to April 19th , 2022) as well as reference lists were searched. Eligible studies compared dental caries prevalence in food-secure and food-insecure individuals younger than 19 years. Two independent reviewers performed study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analysis was done, and the pooled odds ratio (OR) was calculated at 95% confidence interval (95% CI). RESULTS Among the 1350 retrieved records, 10 cross-sectional reports were selected for systematic review. Six studies involving 8,631 participants were included in the meta-analysis. More than half of the reports were published within the period 2019-2021. All studies except one were judged as low risk of bias. Overall, the prevalence of dental caries was greater among the food-insecure children and adolescents (OR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.52-2.65, P < .001, I2 : 73.5%). Similarly, all three categories of FI showed significant association with caries experience (marginal FI: OR: 1.88, 95%CI: 1.56-2.27, P < .001, I2 : 0.0%; low: OR: 2.42, 95%CI: 1.42-4.14, P = .001, I2 : 74.4%; very low FI: OR: 2.37, 95%CI: 1.88-3.00, P < .001, I2 : 0.0%). CONCLUSION The results showed a significant association between FI status and dental caries in both childhood and adolescence; however, there was a lack of longitudinal studies for better understanding of this association. Health policies leading to reduction of FI may also aim to reduce dental caries.