The pattern and magnitude of Dietary Free Sugar (DFS) consumption and dental caries in school children: A systematic review

Abstract Background Dietary Free Sugar (DFS) is considered as one of the main risk factor for dental caries development. This systematic review was designed to assess the relationship between pattern and magnitude of Dietary Free Sugar (DFS) consumption and dental caries in school children aged among 6 to 12 years old. Methods An electronic search of the databases consists of Medline/PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Science and Scopus was conducted using relevant keywords. Longitudinal studies reporting the relationship between DFS and dental caries focused on school children that were published between 2004 and 2019 in English were selected. The title and abstract of the papers were reviewed by 2 independent researchers and irrelevant papers were excluded. After duplicate removal, the full text of the papers was reviewed. The reference search of the selected papers was performed and finally the quality of included papers assessed using the STROBE check list and the main findings were extracted. Results From 2120 articles searched, 12 longitudinal studies included in this review. Three articles report insignificant relationship between DFS consumption of and dental caries. However, Dietary Free Sugar and dental caries were significantly associated in the primary and permanent dentition of children. Frequent intake of sweet foods and drinks especially before bed, consumption of processed starches and soft drink were considered as important risk factors while frequent consumption of water and dairy product had protective effect. Conclusion This study confirms the limitation of dietary free sugar in school children especially in the form of processed starch and sweet snacks especially before bedtime. Still, there is a need for well-designed studies in this field.