Dental caries among 12-year-old children in Arctic Russia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are designed to provide quantitative and qualitative systematization of research information. The health of residents of Arctic Russia has recently received increased attention, but there is still insufficient information on the dental health of children in this part of the country. AIM: To conduct a systematic search and synthesis of scientific information on the prevalence and intensity of caries among 12-years-old children in Arctic Russia over the 25-years period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The search, selection, and presentation of the research information were conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. To systematize caries prevalence and experience in 12-years-old children in Arctic Russia, a comprehensive search for papers published in 1998-2023 was performed using the eLIBRARY.RU platform for Russian literature and PubMed for articles in English. Additionally, we used National dental survey reports as additional sources of information. Caries prevalence was presented in percent, while caries experience was expressed as decayed (D), missing (M) and filled (F) teeth and their sum (DMFT index). RESULTS: As a result of the primary search using key words, 279 sources were identified. After screening and assessing the eligibility of papers using inclusion and exclusion criteria, 14 publications remained relevant and were included in qualitative synthesis. Meta-analysis included data from 27 settings. The weighted overall prevalence of caries in Arctic Russia over the 25 years was 79.3% (95% CI: 74.7–83.6). The prevalence of caries among 12-year-old children varies between 55.0 (95% CI: 48.2–61.6) in Segezha (Republic of Karelia) and 98.3% (95% CI: 95.0–100.0) in Salekhard (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous area). The corresponding values for the DMFT index were 1.81 and 7.82. No statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of caries was observed, although the proportion of children with caries tended to decrease in most settings where the measurements were taken at two or more time points. CONCLUSIONS: The overall weighted prevalence of caries among the 12-years-old children in Arctic Russia is 79.3%. The prevalence of caries tends to decrease, but this reduction does not reach the level of statistical significance. Interventions on both population and individual levels are warranted to improve the situation.