CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 114Dental Health and Care UtilizationOral microbiology and periodontitis researchDental Research and COVID-19

Prevalence of dental caries and associated factors in East Africa, 2000–2020: systematic review and meta-analysis

Open access
Teshome, Amare, Muche, Abebe, Girma, Biruk·2021·Frontiers in Public Health
DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2021.645091PMC PMC8116500
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Background: Dental caries affects mastication, growth and development, and school attendance and has a long-term psychological effect on affected individuals. In developing countries, the prevalence of dental caries is increasing due to the growing consumption of sugary foods, poor tooth brushing habits, and a low level of awareness about dental caries. Even if there was a high prevalence of dental caries in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a paucity of data on the prevalence of dental caries in East Africa. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries and associated factors in East Africa. Methods: A systematic search of articles was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar using all the synonyms of dental caries in published literature (until December 2020) in East Africa. Important data were extracted using a standardized data extraction form prepared in Excel. Stata software (version 14.0) was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of dental caries. Besides, subgroup analysis was done based on country and dentition type. Moreover, associated factors of dental caries were assessed and the overall effect was presented in the form of odds ratios. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute reviewers' manual. Results: The overall pooled prevalence of dental caries was found to be 45.7% (95% CI = 38.0–53.4). The pooled prevalence was high in Eritrea (65.2%, 95% CI = 49.2–81.1), followed by Sudan (57.8%, 95% CI = 36.0–79.7), and a low prevalence was found in Tanzania (30.7%, 95% CI = 21.5–39.9). Moreover, the subgroup analysis revealed a prevalence of 50% (95% CI = 38.4–62.1) in permanent dentition and 41.3% (95% CI = 33.5–49.2) in mixed dentition. The overall mean decayed, missed, and filled permanent (DMFT) and primary (dmft) teeth were 1.941 (95% CI = 1.561–2.322) and 2.237 (95% CI = 1.293–3.181), respectively. High DMFT scores were reported in Sudan (3.146, 95% CI = 1.050–5.242) and Uganda (2.876, 95% CI = 2.186–3.565). Being female (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.24–1.46) and having poor tooth brushing habit (OR = 1.967, 95% CI = 1.67–2.33) were independent risk factors of dental caries. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of dental caries was comparatively high. Being female and poor oral health practice were independent risk factors of dental caries. The Ministry of Health of the member countries, along with dental associations of each country, ought to offer due attention to strengthen the oral health program in schools and primary health care centers and the implementation of school water fluoridation.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3389/fpubh.2021.645091

Cites

92 of 92 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Among children in East Africa, pooled data reported an average DMFT score of 2.24.

    “Among children, pooled data from East Africa also reported an average DMFT score of 2.24, indicating a notable burden of untreated dental caries in primary dentition (18).”

    From Oral health in Africa: a neglected public health priority (2026) · cites this paper as [18]

    The Results section reports a pooled mean of 2.237 (approximately 2.24) for dmft in primary dentition, so the number matches. It separately reports a mean DMFT of 1.941; the claim labels the 2.24 figure as DMFT and interprets the combined decayed, missing, and filled-teeth measure as untreated caries. Page numbers were not supplied. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [69]The Joanna Briggs Institute. Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' Manual: 2014 Edition. Kronoberg County: The Joanna Briggs Institute (2014)

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Teshome, A., Muche, A., & Girma, B.
Affiliations
University of Gondar (ET)
Corresponding author
Teshome, Amare
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Public Health
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2021-04-29
Volume
9
Pages
645091-645091
ISSN
2296-2565 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2021.645091
PMC
PMC8116500
OpenAlex
W3159443477
Cited by
114
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 15
FWCI
3.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
University of Gondar
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Dental Health and Care Utilization
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › General Dentistry › Dental Research and COVID-19
Keywords
dental caries, caries prevalence, East Africa, risk factors, DMFT index, primary teeth, permanent teeth, mixed dentition, oral hygiene, sugar consumption, socioeconomic status, oral health awareness, oral health services, oral health policy, sub-Saharan Africa, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia
MeSH terms
Dental Caries, Female, Humans, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Prevalence, Eritrea

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review