Question · asked by 1 review
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese: Dental caries
- Population
- Adults (≥18 years)
- Intervention
- Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference)
- Comparison
- Normal Weight or Non‐Obese
- Outcome
- Dental caries
After adjustment for confounders, obesity/overweight was not associated with dental caries (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.12; ungraded).
What each review found
Include earlier review versionsNo studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 9 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By confounder adjustment: adjusted After adjustment for confounders, obesity/overweight was not associated with dental caries (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.12; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.00 [0.89, 1.12] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By region: West Asia In West Asian studies, no significant association with dental caries (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.96 to 1.50; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.23 [0.96, 1.50] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (binary; DMFT-based or dentist-diagnosed caries present) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By BMI classification: overweight (vs study-defined non-overweight: normal or low weight) In the overweight subgroup, no significant association with dental caries (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.00; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 0.99 [0.98, 1.00] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By region: East Asia In East Asian studies, no significant association with dental caries (OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.11; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.02 [0.94, 1.11] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By confounder adjustment: not adjusted Studies that did not adjust for confounders showed a positive association with dental caries (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.29; significant; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.17 [1.04, 1.29] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea) Obesity or overweight was not significantly associated with dental caries in adults (pooled OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.14; not significant; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.06 [0.98, 1.14] | 18 studies · 270408 participants | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By sample size: n ≥ 5000 In larger studies (n ≥ 5000), no significant association with dental caries (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.16; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.04 [0.92, 1.16] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (binary; DMFT-based or dentist-diagnosed caries present) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By BMI classification: obesity (vs study-defined non-obese: normal or low weight) In the obesity subgroup, no significant association with dental caries (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.23; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.04 [0.85, 1.23] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · Population-based cross-sectional studies; adults ≥18 years; 6 countries (Turkey, Portugal, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea), By sample size: n < 5000 In smaller studies (n < 5000), no significant association with dental caries (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.30; ungraded). Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | OR 1.13 [0.95, 1.30] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes | January 1, 2000 to January 1, 2025 | 24 | Not applicable |
Studies behind the findings
The primary studies the full-text reviews tie to this outcome. Reviews with headline outcomes only do not list them here.
- Common risk factors for dental caries and impaired glucose regulation in Guangxi, China. · 2024 · included by 1 of these review
- Utilization of machine learning models in predicting caries risk groups and oral health-related risk factors in adults. · 2024 · included by 1 of these review
- Evaluation of the Relationship Between Oral Health and Body Mass Index. · 2023 · included by 1 of these review
- Dental Caries and Associated Risk Indicators among Married Saudi Women. · 2022 · included by 1 of these review
- Body Mass Index and Caries: Machine Learning and Statistical Analytics of the Dental, Oral, Medical Epidemiological (DOME) Nationwide Big… · 2022 · included by 1 of these review
- Association between Findings in Oral Health Screening and Body Mass Index: A Nation-Wide Longitudinal Study. · 2021 · included by 1 of these review
- Correlation between oral health and quality of life among the elderly in Southwest China from 2013 to 2015. · 2018 · included by 1 of these review
- Body mass index and oral health status in Korean adults: the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. · 2017 · included by 1 of these review
- Relationship between dental caries and metabolic syndrome among 13 998 middle-aged urban Chinese. · 2017 · included by 1 of these review
- Obesity is inversely related to the risks of dental caries in Korean adults. · 2017 · included by 1 of these review
- Association between oral health status and body mass index in older adults · 2016 · included by 1 of these review
- Ashour 2019 · included by 1 of these review
- Ashour A.A., 2019 · included by 1 of these review
- Guerreiro 2023 · included by 1 of these review
- Guerreiro E., 2023 · included by 1 of these review
- Jouhar 2021 · included by 1 of these review
- Jouhar R., 2021 · included by 1 of these review
- Kang 2015 · included by 1 of these review
- Kang H.J., 2015 · included by 1 of these review
- Lee S.H., 2014 · included by 1 of these review
- Ojima 2015 · included by 1 of these review
- Ojima M., 2015 · included by 1 of these review
- Park 2020 · included by 1 of these review
- Park K.H., 2020 · included by 1 of these review
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.