Increasing evidence suggests that socioeconomic factors may be associated with an increased risk of dental caries. To provide better evidence of the association between dental caries in adults and socioeconomic indicators, we evaluated the relation between these two conditions in a thorough review of the literature. Seven databases were systematically searched: Pubmed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Bireme, Controlled Trials, Clinical Trials and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. No restrictions were placed on the language or year of publication. The search yielded 41 studies for systematic review. Two independent reviewers screened the studies for inclusion, extracted data and evaluated quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The following socioeconomic indicators were found: educational level, income, occupation, socio-economic status and the community index. These indicators were significantly associated with a greater occurrence of dental caries: the subject’s education, subject’s income, subject’s occupation and the Gini coefficient. A high degree of heterogeneity was found among the methods. Quality varied across studies. The criteria employed for socioeconomic indicators and dental caries should be standardized in future studies. The scientific evidence reveals that educational level, income, occupation and the Gini coefficient are associated with dental caries.

Understanding the role that breastfeeding and bottle feeding play in the development of dental caries during childhood is essential in helping dentists and parents and care providers prevent the disease, and also for the development of effective public health policies. However, the issue is not yet fully understood. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to search for scientific evidence in response to the question: Do bottle fed children have more dental caries in primary dentition than breastfed children? Seven electronic databases and grey literature were used in the search. The protocol number of the study is PROSPERO CRD 42014006534. Two independent reviewers selected the studies, extracted data and evaluated risk of bias by quality assessment. A random effect model was used for meta-analysis, and the summary effect measure were calculated by odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI. Seven studies were included: five cross-sectional, one case-control and one cohort study. A meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies showed that breastfed children were less affected by dental caries than bottle fed children (OR: 0.43; 95%CI: 0.23–0.80). Four studies showed that bottle fed children had more dental caries (p0.05). The scientific evidence therefore indicated that breastfeeding can protect against dental caries in early childhood. The benefits of breastfeeding until age two is recommended by WHO/UNICEF guidelines. Further prospective observational cohort studies are needed to strengthen the evidence.

Dental caries, traumatic dental injury (TDI) and malocclusion are common oral health conditions among preschool children and can have both physical and psychosocial consequences. Thus, it is important to measure the impact these on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of children. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of oral health conditions on the OHRQoL of preschool children and their families.