Prevalence of dental caries in Pakistan: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Optimum oral health is impossible to achieve without managing dental caries. The first step manage caries at a community level know its prevalence and trend. Unfortunately, the of national/regional not known in many developing countries. Pakistan no exception. present meta-analysis was planned document national, as well regional level. This paper will serve baseline for making future policies, promotion activities country. Methods Literature searched through various databases, such PubMed, SCOPUS, Web science using: "Prevalence", "Dental Caries", Decay" "Severity" keywords. Any study that reported caries, conducted Pakistani population included. Thirty studies fulfilled inclusion criteria. Quality assessment all included performed using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist studies. MedCalc software used analyze data. Results In total 27,878 subjects were from 30 estimate national 56.62% (95% CI: 49.54 63.57). I 2 value 99.07% 98.94 99.18), (I > 75%) indicating heterogeneity, hence pooled proportion random-effect model. Sindh 58.946% 43.796 73.274), Punjab, it 55.445% 44.174 66.44), whilst Baluchistan KPK combined 51.168% 22.930 79.004). Conclusion Based on existing data nearly 60% have almost same provinces. Most found be high risk.