Do Oral Health Educational Programmes for Expectant Mothers Prevent Early Childhood Caries? - Systematic Review.

PURPOSE: To summarise the evidence for the efficacy of oral health educational programmes provided to expectant mothers for preventing Early Childhood Caries (ECC) and to determine the most effective intervention programme.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The search strategy included clinical trials in the Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, LILACS and ClinicalKey (up to 26 August 2013) in English. Reference lists of identified randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and review articles were also hand searched. Studies were selected according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

RESULTS: The search identified 392 studies, only four of which were included. Risk ratios (RR) were calculated. The quality of the evidence was assessed by the GRADE approach. Results showed statistically significant decreases in caries incidence (RR = 0.18, 95% CI [from 0.06 to 0.52]) in one study. Meta-analysis could not be performed.

CONCLUSION: Oral health educational programmes for expectant mothers may have a positive impact in preventing ECC, although the evidence is weak.