Contextual socioeconomic determinants of tooth loss in adults and elderly: a systematic review

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review regarding studies that investigated the association between contextual socioeconomic factors and tooth loss. METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, and LILACS databases were searched and no language or date restrictions were applied for this research. The search was also carried out at the Brazilian Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), with the objective of seeking unpublished studies. We evaluated the bibliographical and methodological characteristics of the studies, as well as the findings. RESULTS: We found 348 articles, out of which only 6 were included in this study after revision by 2 independent researchers. We also identified an unpublished thesis. In general, these results show that the socioeconomic context interferes in tooth loss. We found an association between the highest number of missing teeth with less favorable contextual variables, despite the weak evidence, due to the fact that all selected studies had a cross-sectional design. CONCLUSION: We suggest the standardization of outcome formats and exposures in order to favor the comparison between studies and their quantitative analysis.