Hepatitis B vaccination status among Indian dental students – Systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: To estimate pooled hepatitis B (HBV) vaccination coverage among Indian dental students. Methods: Systematic search across major databases to July 1, 2025. Included cross-sectional studies reporting HBV status in Indian dental students. Meta-analysis using random effects (REML) in Jamovi. Results: 24 studies (n=8740; age 18–27) included. Complete vaccination reported in 2959 participants. Pooled estimate of complete HBV vaccination = 53.9% (95% CI: 41.84–65.97); high heterogeneity (I 2 = 99.7%). Monitoring of antibody titers reported in 5 studies (n=504). Clinical students had higher coverage versus mixed samples. Conclusions: Approximately half of Indian dental students are incompletely vaccinated against HBV — urgent need for education and mandatory vaccination policies in dental institutions.