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Review
. 2024 Nov 21;13(23):7022.
doi: 10.3390/jcm13237022.

Dental Health in Children with Congenital Heart Defects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Carol Moussa  1   2 , Guillaume Savard  1   2   3 , Laurent Estrade  3 , Rim Bourgi  4   5 , Naji Kharouf  5   6 , Frédéric Denis  1   2   3 , Maha H Daou  1   7   8
Affiliations
Review

Dental Health in Children with Congenital Heart Defects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Carol Moussa et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: Oral health outcomes in children with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) have significant implications. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to update the current understanding of oral health outcomes in children with CHD and compare caries prevalence between CHD children and healthy controls. Methods: All studies between 2014 and 2024 comparing oral health status between children with and without CHD were considered for inclusion. Studies had to use the DMF/dmf index (Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth or Surface index), in permanent and deciduous teeth. Two separate meta-analyses were conducted: one analyzing DMFS scores and another focusing on dmft scores. Medline, Central, and Embase databases were screened. Twelve articles were included in the qualitative synthesis, and two studies were finally included in each quantitative synthesis. Results: Several studies identified significant differences in oral health outcomes, suggesting that children with CHD are at a higher risk of dental caries compared with healthy controls, particularly as they become older. However, the differences were not uniformly observed across all studies and age groups. Based on the meta-analysis, there was no statistically significant difference in either DMFS scores (MD: 0.07 [95% CI: -0.13, 0.27]; p = 0.48) or in dmft scores (MD: 1.39 [95% CI: -1.05, 3.83]; p = 0.26). Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis highlight a possible increased risk of dental caries in children with CHD, although results were not statistically significant and varied across studies. More standardized and rigorous studies are required to provide clearer insights into oral health outcomes for this population.

Keywords: DMF index; congenital heart defects; dental caries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ROBINS-I assessment for the studies [7,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Study flow diagram of inclusion process for articles selected.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of comparison of DMFS between children with CHD and healthy controls [17,18].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of the comparison of dmft between children with CHD and healthy controls [7,14].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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