Salivary counts of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus in patients with and without cleft lip and/or palate undergoing orthodontic treatment: A meta‐analysis

• Published in: International journal of dental hygiene Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 112 - 119
• Main Authors: Vale, Francisco, Correia, Liliana, Guimarães, Adriana, Caramelo, Francisco, Francisco, Inês
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-2022
• Subjects: cleft lip; Cleft Lip - therapy; Cleft lip/palate; cleft palate; Cleft Palate - therapy; Clinical trials; Colonization; Humans; Lactobacillus; Meta-analysis; Orthodontics; Patients; Prospective Studies; Retrospective Studies; Statistical analysis; Streptococcus infections; Streptococcus mutans; Systematic review; cleft lip; cleft palate; orthodontics; Lactobacillus; Streptococcus mutans
• ISSN: 1601-5029; 1601-5037
• DOI: 10.1111/idh.12503

Objective
To conduct a systematic review with meta‐analysis to assess if cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients undergoing orthodontic treatment have a higher colonization of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus than patients without this condition.
Methods
Five electronic databases were searched systematically. The inclusion criteria were as follows: randomized clinical trials, non‐randomized, or quasi‐randomized controlled trials, prospective and retrospective studies published until March, 2021; articles that evaluated S. mutans and Lactobacillus profile in patients with and without cleft lip and palate undergoing orthodontic treatment. The random‐effect model was used to perform the analysis of all the data collected. Statistic heterogeneity was evaluated with I2 test.
Results
In this systematic review, 2 cohort studies were included. The data analysis from 160 patients revealed that patients without cleft lip and palate had 4.5 times more predisposition to oral colonization with S. mutans than CLP patients. No statistical significant difference was found between these patients for colonization with Lactobacillus.
Conclusions
Despite the limitations in the included studies, this systematic review suggested that CLP patients have a lower predisposition to oral colonization with S. mutans when compared to healthy patients.