Caries experience in asthmatic children: a review of literature.

AIM

This review explores the discriminating factors involved for increased caries experience in asthmatic children.

BACKGROUND

Dental caries is the single most common chronic disease of childhood. Children with chronic medical conditions are considered high caries risk. Asthma is one of the most common chronic medical conditions in childhood.

MATERIAL

27 studies examined the asthma-caries causative relationship. Most of them were cross sectional studies; only 5 longitudinal studies were reported. In the literature, there is a lack of consensus regarding the relationship between dental caries and asthma in a child population.

CONCLUSION

Despite the fact that some relatively recent studies have provided little evidence for an asthma-caries causative relationship, the majority and the most recent reports have concluded that the individualistic nature of asthmatic condition, through either its disease status or its pharmacotherapy (diferent combinations of medicaments), or attempts to alleviate the condition's physiologic sequelea, carries several factors for an increased caries risk.