Institutionalization (living in an orphanage/institution) vs Parented children living with their families: Mean DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth)
Permanent-teeth caries experience (DMF) was marginally higher in institutionalized children but essentially similar to parented children (pooled MD 0.09, not significant; very low certainty).
What each review found
Include earlier review versions| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Institutionalization (living in an orphanage/institution) vs Parented children living with their families Permanent-teeth caries experience (DMF/DMFT, mean score) · Institutionalized orphan children (roughly 3 to 18 years) · Orphanages/childcare institutions in low- and middle-income countries (India, Iran, China, Yemen, Egypt, Lithuania, Malaysia), Overall (pooled) Permanent-teeth caries experience (DMF) was marginally higher in institutionalized children but essentially similar to parented children (pooled MD 0.09, not significant; very low certainty). Caries in orphan children: prevalence and determinants-a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2024) All outcomes | MD 0.09 [-0.36, 0.55] | 7 studies · 2676 participants | Very low |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caries in orphan children: prevalence and determinants-a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2024 All outcomes | Not specified (no time or language restriction) | 23 | Not applicable |
Studies behind the findings
None of these reviews ties its included studies to this outcome in the data here. Cochrane reviews and reviews with headline outcomes only do not list their studies yet.
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.