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OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the pooled prevalence of dental caries among Indian population through systematic review and meta-analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A keyword search was conducted in PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Cochrane, and Scopus databases using relevant key words to extract the data pertaining to dental caries in Indian population. The search criteria included manuscripts published in English language from March 2009 to March 2019 and employed standard Boolean operators. The studies which met the inclusion criteria were independently reviewed by two researchers and their quality was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The overall prevalence was deduced using the random effects model with prime focus given to the site of anatomical origin. R software version 3.5.2. was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: < 0.0001). Maximum overall prevalence was noted in mixed dentition (58%). Region wise prevalence was more in western India (72%). Use of decayed, missed, and filled teeth as diagnostic criteria for early childhood caries was only 29%. CONCLUSIONS: Besides an overall prevalence of 54.16%, there exists a remarkable variation in dental caries prevalence rates as per age, diagnostic criteria, dentition, and geographical region. Furthermore, research should be focused on the prevalence of anatomical site specific caries as well.
Pandey et al. (Sat,) studied this question.