The Association between Secondhand Smoke and Dental Caries in Permanent Dentition: a Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

Dental caries is a multifactorial disease; and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke such as secondhand smoke is might be a risk factor for dental caries in children. The researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the association between secondhand smoke and dental caries in permanent dentition. An electronic search was conducted using the Medline and Google Scholar databases, from 1997 to 2023 in English and Thai, to review literature on dental caries. The risks ofbias in the individual studies were assessed by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Synthesis of the results with meta-analysis was performed using fixed effect model, random effect model, robust the results with sensitivity and sub-group analysis by considering heterogeneity from Tau2, Chi2, I2; and determined statistically significant with p-value <0.05. The results showed moderate heterogeneity, and the random effect model presented a possible weak association between secondhand smoke and dental caries in permanent teeth dentition, OR = 1.23 (95%CI: 1.12-1.35). Subgroup analysis occurred with moderatedheterogeneity, and the random effect model showed the association between secondhand smoke and dental caries in children aged 12-19 years old, OR = 1.32 (95%CI: 1.15-1.49). Thus, secondhand smoke could affect body and oral health. Therefore, the related organizations should be aware and put efforts to protect this risk factor for a healthy life of children and adults. This synthesis of the results found moderated heterogeneity that needs to be explored further.