Evidence Gaps

Higher waist circumference vs Lower waist circumference

Dental caries in children · Children (approx. 4-18 years)

Waist circumference was not significantly associated with childhood dental caries (pooled OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.30; I2=47.7%); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Childhood obesity in relation to risk of dental caries: a cumulative and dose-response systematic review and… 2024 All outcomes
Dental examinations of children; 15 countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania
OR 1.08 [0.90, 1.30]
2 studies
GRADE not reported

Higher BMI (continuous / per-unit increment) vs Lower BMI (continuous reference / per 1 kg/m2 decrement)

Dental caries in children · Children (approx. 4-18 years)

Pooling studies that used BMI as a continuous variable showed no significant association between per-unit BMI and childhood dental caries (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.03; I2=3.5%); ungraded.

3 findings from 1 review

Childhood obesity in relation to risk of dental caries: a cumulative and dose-response systematic review and… 2024 All outcomes
Dental examinations of children; 15 countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania · Continuous BMI, direct pooling (studies reporting BMI as a continuous variable)
OR 1.01 [0.99, 1.03]
4 studies
GRADE not reported
Childhood obesity in relation to risk of dental caries: a cumulative and dose-response systematic review and… 2024 All outcomes
Dental examinations of children; 15 countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania · Non-linear dose-response (restricted cubic splines)
Fig. 5: significant non-linear (restricted cubic spline) dose-response between BMI and childhood dental caries; relative risk rises at higher BMI (curve reaches ~2.4-2.9 at BMI 30-35) and is also elevated among…
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
Childhood obesity in relation to risk of dental caries: a cumulative and dose-response systematic review and… 2024 All outcomes
Dental examinations of children; 15 countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania · Linear dose-response (GLST, per 1 kg/m2 BMI increment)
OR 1.01 [1.00, 1.03]
16 studies
GRADE not reported

What do systematic reviews say?

2 questions · 4 findings · 1 reviews

Higher waist circumference vs Lower waist circumference

Higher BMI (continuous / per-unit increment) vs Lower BMI (continuous reference / per 1 kg/m2 decrement)