Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet: Dental caries measures other than pooled DMFT (DMFS, decayed/filled surfaces and teeth, root caries, nonvisible lesions, white spots)
- Population
- General population (children and adults) assessed for dental hard-tissue health
- Intervention
- Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish)
- Comparison
- Nonvegetarian diet
- Outcome
- Dental caries measures other than pooled DMFT (DMFS, decayed/filled surfaces and teeth, root caries, nonvisible lesions, white spots)
Evidence on other dental-caries measures was inconsistent: some indices (decayed surfaces/teeth, root caries, white spots) were higher in vegetarians while some studies found lower caries in vegetarian children (ungraded).
What each review found
Current versions only| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet Dental caries measures other than pooled DMFT (DMFS, decayed/filled surfaces and teeth, root caries, nonvisible lesions, white spots) · General population (children and adults) assessed for dental hard-tissue health · Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings Evidence on other dental-caries measures was inconsistent: some indices (decayed surfaces/teeth, root caries, white spots) were higher in vegetarians while some studies found lower caries in vegetarian children (ungraded). Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. (2020) All outcomes | Eleven studies reported dental caries using 11 definitions; four (DMFT) were meta-analysed (see O2). Narrative findings were inconsistent: DMFS results were mixed; decayed surfaces and decayed teeth and percentages of… | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes | 2019-04-17 | 19 | Not applicable |
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.