Association between black stains and early childhood caries - A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To systematically review the association between black stains and early childhood caries. Methods: Seven electronic databases and hand search were carried out using keywords on black stains and early childhood caries. Articles published in English from January 1947 to January 2020 were included. A total of 38,686 articles were retrieved, and 38,645 duplicate and irrelevant records were removed. Among the 41 articles obtained, 21 articles were excluded after screening the title and abstracts. Fifteen articles were excluded after analyzing the full text. Finally, five articles with cross-sectional study designs were included in this review. Quality analysis was carried out using a modified Newcastle–Ottawa scale. Results: All the five articles included in this review had a low risk of bias. Two articles showed a significant negative association and one article showed a significant positive association between black stains and early childhood caries. Conclusion: Cross-sectional design and heterogeneity of the included articles provide an ambiguous opinion on the association between black stains and early childhood caries. More of longitudinal studies following rigid methodology is needed to establish the association between black stains and early childhood caries.

Keywords

• dental caries
• early childhood
• stains
• tooth discolouration