Non-Cochrane · aetiology · PM40797511
Evaluating the DMFT and dmft indices in people with epilepsy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Agheshteh Sabzevar Sobhan, Valaei-Barhagh Amir, Ghasemi Seyed Amirali, et al. · Medicine · 2025 · PubMed · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000043611
Full textEvery question was extracted from the full text, figures and supplements by two independent LLM extractors, disagreements adjudicated. Rows cite where in the review the value comes from.
Questions
6
current version
GRADE rated
2
No studies
0
Included studies
12
linked below
No studies 0 · 0%Ungraded 4 · 66.7%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 2 · 33.3%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Participants with epilepsy (PICOT population) | 7 studies included (n=7); people with epilepsy vs healthy controls; ages ~3-69 years; sample sizes 70-442 (mean 167); England, Turkey (2), Egypt, Iran, China, India |
| Intervention | Not applicable (epilepsy is the exposure/condition; no intervention) | Epilepsy (people with epilepsy) |
| Comparison | Healthy participants (without epilepsy) | Healthy controls without epilepsy |
| Outcomes | DMFT (permanent teeth) or dmft (primary teeth) caries indices | DMFT (permanent teeth): SMD 0.403 (95% CI 0.057 to 0.749), significant; dmft (primary teeth): SMD 0.132 (95% CI -0.22 to 0.484), not significant |
| Study designs | Case-control, cohort, and cross-sectional studies (English language) | 7 observational studies: case-control (Percival, Tiwari, Cabuk) and cross-sectional (Gurbuz, Morgan, Najafi, Yeung) |
| Timing | Studies published up to October 30, 2024 (no outcome-measurement timing specified) | Not specified (cross-sectional/observational caries measurement) |
Search date: Up to October 30, 2024. Databases: PubMed; Scopus; Google Scholar (first 10 pages); Web of Science/ISI; ProQuest
Questions and results
Epilepsy (as exposure/condition) vs Healthy participants without epilepsy (control group)
Population: People with epilepsy (children, adolescents, and adults)
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
dmft (decayed, missing, filled primary teeth) The dmft (primary-teeth caries) index does not differ significantly between people with epilepsy and controls (SMD 0.132, 95% CI -0.22 to 0.484; high certainty). Source: Abstract; Results 4.2 (dmft) and Fig. 4; GRADE assessment 3.4 (rated high; GRADE table in Supplementary Material) · same question in other reviews | SMD 0.132 [-0.22, 0.484] | 5 studies | High |
DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) People with epilepsy have a significantly higher DMFT (permanent-teeth caries) index than controls (SMD 0.403, 95% CI 0.057 to 0.749; high certainty). Source: Abstract; Results 4.1 (DMFT) and Fig. 3; GRADE assessment 3.4 (rated high; GRADE table in Supplementary Material) · same question in other reviews | SMD 0.403 [0.057, 0.749] | 7 studies | High |
Epilepsy (as exposure/condition) vs Healthy participants without epilepsy (control group)
Population: Adults with epilepsy
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
DMFT (permanent teeth) Adults In adults, epilepsy is associated with a significantly higher DMFT than controls (SMD 0.548, P < .001; ungraded subgroup analysis). Source: Results 4.4 (subgroup analysis) and Fig. 7 · same question in other reviews | SMD 0.548 [0.223, 0.873] | NR | Ungraded |
Epilepsy (as exposure/condition) vs Healthy participants without epilepsy (control group)
Population: Children and adolescents with epilepsy
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
dmft (primary teeth) Children/adolescents In children/adolescents, the dmft (primary teeth) index does not differ significantly with epilepsy (SMD 0.132, 95% CI -0.220 to 0.484, P = .463; ungraded subgroup). Source: Results 4.4 (subgroup analysis) and Fig. 7 · same question in other reviews | SMD 0.132 [-0.220, 0.484] | NR | Ungraded |
DMFT (permanent teeth) Children/adolescents In children/adolescents, the higher DMFT with epilepsy is not statistically significant (SMD 0.334, 95% CI -0.140 to 0.827, P = .164; ungraded subgroup). Source: Results 4.4 (subgroup analysis) and Fig. 7 · same question in other reviews | SMD 0.334 [-0.140, 0.827] | NR | Ungraded |
dmft index (primary teeth) Children or adolescents Population: Children or adolescents with epilepsy The review found no statistically significant difference in dmft among children or adolescents. Source: Results 4.4 · same question in other reviews | SMD 0.132 [-0.220, 0.484] | NR | Ungraded |
Included primary studies 12
Open as a trial list| Study | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial PICO | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabuk 2023 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Gurbuz 2010 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Gurbuz 2010 Oral health status in epileptic children. PMID:19793211 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Morgan 2018 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Morgan 2018 Assessment of oral health status of children with epilepsy: A retrospective cohort study. PMID:30298679 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Najafi 2018 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Percival 2009 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Percival 2009 Oral health of children with intractable epilepsy attending the UK National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy. PMID:19254522 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Tiwari 2021 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Tiwari 2021 Assessment of Oral Health Status in Epileptic Children and Healthy Children in Bengaluru City: A Comparative Study. PMID:35110869 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Yeung 2019 matched by author and year (probable) | this review only | DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |
| Yeung 2019 Oral health status of children with epilepsy in Hong Kong. PMID:31755666 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet | not extracted yet |