Oral health in children with cerebral palsy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: Aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the oral health status of children with cerebral palsy and to compare it to that of healthy children. Methods and results: An electronic search extended to October 2019 was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. Two independent reviewers selected publications using a two-stage process; data were extracted according to PRISMA statement. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the risk of bias in individual studies. After screening of the 5460 studies selected 20 publications were included in the systematic review, 15 underwent quantitative analysis. In the palsy population statistical analysis showed an OR = 1.45 (95% CI: 1.05-2.00) for dental caries in the primary dentition and OR = 1.87 (95% CI: 1.07-3.24) for the simplified oral hygiene index. The OR of Angle's Class II and anterior open bite were 3.27 (95% CI: 1.22-8.81) and 14.06 (95% CI: 6.26-31.62), respectively. Conclusion: Children with cerebral palsy seem to present an increased risk of dental caries in the primary dentition, of Angle's Class II malocclusion, anterior open bite and a lower gingival status.