Dietary Advice in Dental Practice for Young Adolescents to Prevent Dental Caries: A Scoping Review.

INTRODUCTION

A scoping review of dietary advice for caries prevention in adolescents in high income English-speaking countries was conducted.

OBJECTIVE

To identify and appraise dietary advice for dental settings in government or private sector.

METHOD: Dentistry and Oral Sciences database was searched from 2015 to September 2023. Papers published between 2015 and 2021 were identified from an existing review of nutrition practices not reporting dietary advice. A MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase search (2021-September 2023) was also conducted. An advanced Google searches of relevant professional and dental commercial websites was conducted.

RESULTS

Ten of 1257 identified papers were included, containing 17 topics of dietary advice: most common was to drink water (5/10), and keep sugars to mealtimes (4/10). Twenty-nine out of 63 national professional organisation yielded 18 topics of advice. Other websites (88 of 90) presented 14 topics of advice. Most common was 'drink water' (28/29 professional, 50/88 other websites) and 'drink milk' (18/29 professional, 28/88 other websites). Information on sugars thresholds ranged from 6 to 18.75 teaspoons/day. Definitions of 'low sugar' ranged from 5 to 15 g/100 g.

CONCLUSION

In HIC English-speaking countries, the most common dietary advice for caries prevention in adolescents promotes water and milk and discourages sugars in-between meals. Confusion exists on sugars thresholds and what constitutes 'low sugar'.