Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

5 questions · 9 findings · 1 reviews · All outcomes

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No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 9 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Dental erosion · General population (children and adults) assessed for dental hard-tissue health

Among adults and excluding the outlier study, vegetarian diet was associated with higher odds of dental erosion with no heterogeneity (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.77 to 3.71; ungraded).

4 findings from 1 review

Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings · Adults only, excluding Linkosalo & Markkanen 1985
OR 2.56 [1.77, 3.71]
4 studies
GRADE not reported
Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings · Sensitivity analysis excluding Linkosalo & Markkanen 1985 (outlier)
OR 1.97 [1.19, 3.27]
5 studies
GRADE not reported
Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
OR 2.40 [1.24, 4.66]
6 studies
GRADE not reported

Show 1 more finding

Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings · Adults only
OR 2.94 [1.64, 5.26]
5 studies
GRADE not reported

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Noncarious/cervical lesions and tooth wear (measures other than pooled dental erosion) · General population (children and adults) assessed for dental hard-tissue health

Beyond dental erosion, vegetarians tended to have a higher prevalence of other NCCL and tooth wear than nonvegetarians, reported narratively (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
Eleven studies reported on NCCL using six definitions (presence of NCCL, presence of dental erosion, presence and severity of tooth wear, dental abrasion, cervical buccal defects); the six reporting presence of dental…
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Number of natural teeth (missing/present teeth, edentulousness, MT component of DMFT) · General population (children and adults) assessed for dental hard-tissue health

Evidence on the number of natural teeth was conflicting and could not be pooled (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
Seven studies reported on the number of teeth with conflicting findings; meta-analysis was not possible due to inconsistent outcome definitions. One study found vegetarians had significantly more teeth; two found no…
7 studies
GRADE not reported

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · General population (children and adults) assessed for dental hard-tissue health

Among adults, the lower DMFT score in vegetarians was smaller and not statistically significant (mean difference -0.09, 95% CI -0.32 to 0.13; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings · Adults only
MD -0.09 [-0.32, 0.13]
3 studies
GRADE not reported
Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
MD -0.15 [-0.29, -0.02]
4 studies
GRADE not reported

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

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).

1 finding from 1 review

Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes
Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
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…
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported