Fatemeh Pournaghi-Azar
1 
, Naser Asl-Aminabadi
2, Zahra Jamali
1, Akbar Azami
3, Kameliya Hazem
4, Saber Azami-Aghdash
5, Mohammad Naghavi-Behzad
6* , Sina Ghertasi-Oskouei
1, Sajjadi Shirazi
7, Reza Piri
81 School of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
2 Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
3 Department of Mathematics, School of Mathematics, Miandoab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Miandoab, Iran
4 Liver and Gastrointestinal Disease Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
5 Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
6 Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
7 Dental and Periodontal Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
8 Medical Philosophy and History Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Oral health status is one of the health-related priorities in Iran. The present study was conducted with the aim to systematically review the status of oral health in Iran using the decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) index. Methods: In this meta-analysis, all data available on DMFT were reviewed and 35 published studies were included in the study based on search strategy. To estimate overall DMFT and perform the meta-analyses, Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software was used. Results: Of all 876 articles, 35 were included in the study. A total of 21849 individuals were included in the meta-analysis. The overall DMFT index was 3.65 [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.01-4.34]. In addition, this rate was 2.30, 8.60, and 3.85 among children, adults, and children with mental/physical disabilities with (CI 95%, 1.76-2.95), (CI 95%, 6.10-9.60), and (CI 95, 2.98-4.80), respectively. Conclusion: Mean DMFT in the assessed published data was higher than that set forth by the World Health Organization (WHO). Further planning and taking effective preventive measures to improve the oral health status seems necessary.