Passive smoking and early childhood caries: when adult addiction affects children's oral health

Abstract

Data sources: Medline via EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Scopus up to February 2023.

Study selection: Observational studies in the English language published in peer-reviewed journals, encompassing children aged 0 to 6 years exposed to environmental tobacco smoke and passive smoking, with a focus on oral health conditions in deciduous dentition.

Data extraction and synthesis: Data were extracted from 25 papers, encompassing study details, oral health, and smoking exposure. Confounding factors such as parental education, income, diet, fluoride exposure, gender, and oral hygiene practices were also identified. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Frequency effect size was calculated for health variables and smoking exposure.

Results: Most studies identified a correlation between passive smoking and an increased prevalence of dental caries. Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and dental caries risk were influenced by factors such as low parental education, socioeconomic status, dietary habits, oral hygiene, and gender.

Conclusions: The results of this systematic review strongly indicate a significant association between dental caries in deciduous dentition and passive smoking.