Comparison of decayed, missing, filled teeth index between thalassemia major patients and control group in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Scientific evidence of the association between Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) and thalassemia are conflicting and difficult to establish conclusions. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between dental caries (using the DMFT index) and thalassemia major using meta-analysis. METHODS: Databases were searched using such keywords as “Thalassemia,” “Caries,” “decay,” “DMFT,” “Iran,” and OR operators, AND, and NOT. After the elimination of duplicate documentation, the articles which met the inclusion criteria were selected. Quality assessment was performed based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Checklist. Thereafter, the standardized mean difference of the DMFT index was estimated. RESULTS: In eight studies, the mean DMFT was compared between patients with thalassemia major and the control group. In six studies, the mean of this index was higher in patients with thalassemia major than in the control group and in all six of the studies, the differences were statistically significant. The mean standardized difference of DMFT, D, M, and F were reported as 1.36 (0.41, 2.30), 2.63 (0.42, 4.84), 1.65 (−0.14, 3.45), and 0.02 (−1.67, 1.72), respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this meta-analysis indicated that DMFT index was more inappropriate in patients with thalassemia, as compared to the control group which represents the higher incidence of dental caries among patients with thalassemia compared to the control group.