Table 2 Characteristics of the included studies

1

{Akyuz, 2015} [22]

Cross-sectional

Turkey

One university clinic

5 -13

325

Clinical exam

Caries (dft)

BS (yes/no)

18.5%

dft = 3.67 (3.25)^a

Presence of caries= 86.67%

dft = 4.29 (3.48)^a

Presence of caries= 92.08%

2

{Garan, 2012} [23]

Case- control

Turkey

One university clinic

7-12

38

Clinical exam

Caries (dft)

BS (yes/no)

N/A

dft= 1.21 (2.04)^a

dft= 3.60 (3.60)^a

3

{Boka, 2013} [24]

Cross-sectional

Greece

20 kinder-gartens

3- 5.5

804

Clinical exam

Caries (dmfs)

BS (yes/no)

2.4%

dmfs = 0.38 (0.9)^a

dmfs = 1.19 (3.9)^a

4

{Chen, 2014} [15]

Cross-sectional

China

12 kinder-gartens

4.55

1,397

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft and dmfs)

BS (yes/no)

9.9 %

dmft= 1.91 (3.08)^a

dmfs= 4.22 (7.84)^a

Presence of caries= 46.4 %

dmft= 2.97 (3.91)^a

dmfs= 6.69 (10.15)^a

Presence of caries= 59.1 %

5

{Elelmi, 2020} [25]

Cross-sectional

Tunisia

21 kindergartens

3-5

393

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft) and ECC (yes/no)

BS (yes/no)

6.1%

dmft= 0.83

(SD not reported)

ECC=33.3%

dmft= 1.46

(SD not reported)

ECC=50.9%

6

{França-Pinto, 2012} [26]

Cross-sectional

Brazil

Homes

5

1,120

Clinical exam

Caries (dmfs)

BS (yes/no)

3.5%

dmfs= 3.3 (6.7)^a

Presence of caries= 41.03%

dmfs= 4.1 (7.4)a

Presence of caries= 48.66%

7

{Garcia Martin, 2013} [12]

Cross-sectional

Spain

One health center

6

3,272

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft)

BS (yes/no)

3.1%

dmft= 0.35 (1.123)^a

dmft= 0.65 (1.852)^a

8

{Heinrich-Weltzien, 2014} [10]

Case- control

Germany

A kinder-garten and an elementary school

7.9 ± 1.3

93

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft)

BS (yes/no)

N/A (1.5% in an earlier study in 2011 from which the participants were chosen)

dmft=1.6 (2.1)^a

Presence of caries= 48.9%

dmft= 3.0 (3.2)^a

Presence of caries= 67.4%

9

{Hwang, 2020} [27]

Case- control

Korea

-

4-11

10

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft)

BS (Bs scale 0,1,2)

N/A

dmft= 3.8

(SD not reported)

dmft= 1.75

(SD not reported)

10

{Koch, 2001} [28]

Cross-sectional

Italy

Elementary schools

6-12

1086

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft)

BS (yes/no)

6.17%

dmft= 1.87 (2.47)^a

dmft= 2.39 (2.62)^a

11

{Muthu, 2019} [29]

Cross-sectional

India

150 Anganwadi centers

0-3

1,486

Clinical exam

ECC (yes/no)

BS (yes/no)

6.2%

ECC=43.48%

ECC=40.6%

12

{Mutsaddi, 2018} [30]

Case- control

India

Schools

60

Clinical exam

Caries (dft and dfs)

BS (yes/no)

N/A

dft= 0.80 (1.32)^a

dfs= 1.30 (2.45)^a

dft= 4.33 (3.57)^a

dfs= 7.73 (7.19)^a

13

{Sharaf, 2017} [31]

Case- control

Egypt

One university clinic

3-12

80

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft/deft)

BS (yes/no)

N/A

dmft/deft= 4 (3 - 6)^b

dmft/deft= 2 (0 - 4)^b

14

{Tripodi, 2016} [32]

Case-control

Italy

One university clinic

9.82

±4.43

189

Clinical exam

Caries (dmft)

BS (yes/no)

(1.8% of the whole study population)

dmft= 0.12 (3.15)^a

Presence of caries= 26,08%

dmft= 0.1 (3.07)^a

Presence of caries= 44,12%