Black Stain and Dental Caries: A Review of the Literature

Table 1

Summary of epidemiological studies of black stain prevalence and its association with caries experience.

Study

Group ()

Age (years)

BS diagnostic criteria

BS prevalence (%)

DMFT

dmft

Association between black stain and lower caries experience (permanent dentition)

Association between black stain and lower caries experience (primary dentition)

Area

Country

BS group

Non-BS group

BS group

Non-BS group

Koch et al. (2001) [15]

1086

6–12

Koch

6.3

0.49 ± 1.05

0.97 ± 1.40

1.87 ± 2.47

2.39 ± 2.62

Yes ( < 0.007)

No ()

Urban

Italy

Gasparetto et al. (2003) [18]

263

6–12

Shourie, Koch, and Gasparetto

14.8

1.46 ± 1.39

2.42 ± 2.09

—

—

Not evaluated

—

Rural

Brazil

Heinrich-Weltzien et al. (2009) [14]

1748

11.7 ± 1.1

Present/absent

16

1.50 ± 2.10

2.50 ± 2.50

—

—

Yes ( < 0.05)

—

Rural

Philippines

Bhat (2010) [19]

1472

9.3 ± 1.9

Shourie, Koch, and Gasparetto

18

1.12 ± 1.41

1.77 ± 1.87

—

—

Yes ( = 0.001)

—

Urban

India

Panagidis and Schulte (2012) [21]

951

11.6

Present/absent

6

0.49 ± 1.00

0.66 ± 1.18

—

—

No ( > 0.05)

—

Rural/urban

Cyprus

França-Pinto et al. (2012) [17]

1120

5

Koch

3.5

—

—

3.3 ± 6.7

4.1 ± 7.4

—

No ( N/A^c)

Urban

Brazil

Martin et al. (2013) [5]

3272

6

Present/absent

3.1

—

—

0.35 ± 1.12

0.65 ± 1.85

—

No ( = 0.47)

Urban

Spain

Boka et al. (2013) [16]

804

3.6 ± 1.3

Present/absent

2.4

—

—

0.38 ± 0.90

1.19 ± 3.90

—

Yes ( < 0.001)

Urban

Greece

Chen et al. (2014) [4]

1397

4.55

Koch

9.9

—

—

1.91 ± 3.08

2.97 ± 3.91

—

Yes ( < 0.001)

Urban

China

Shmuly et al. (2014) [22]

110 (BS^a); 170 (NBS^b)

22.0 ± 2.4 (BS); 21.0 ± 2.7 (NBS)

Present/absent

—

4.2 ± 3.9 (BS)

6.0 ± 4.8 (NBS)

—

—

Yes ( < 0.001)

—

—

—

Black stain group; ^bnon-black stain group; ^cdata not available.