{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T17:45:07Z","timestamp":1792691107596,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,14]],"date-time":"2025-06-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1749859200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: This meta-analysis aims to estimate the pooled prevalence of dental caries among children in Turkey by synthesizing national evidence from theses and peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2024. Methods: Studies were retrieved from the Y\u00d6K Thesis Database and Google Scholar using keywords such as \u2018Caries Prevalence\u2019 and \u2018Primary Tooth.\u2019 PubMed was used to cross-check peer-reviewed articles. A total of 28 studies and 29 data points including 40,244 children aged approximately 2 to 15 years were included. PRISMA guidelines were followed. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 index, and publication bias was evaluated with an Egger\u2019s test and funnel plots. Results: The pooled prevalence of dental caries among Turkish children was 75.6% (95% CI: 70.8\u201379.8%). Substantial heterogeneity was observed (I2 = 98.4%), but no significant publication bias was detected. Conclusions: Dental caries remains a significant public health issue among children in Turkey. Targeted preventive measures\u2014such as nationwide dental screenings and school-based fluoride programs\u2014are urgently needed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children12060777","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,16]],"date-time":"2025-06-16T14:03:11Z","timestamp":1750082591000},"page":"777","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Nationwide Prevalence of Dental Caries in Turkish Children: A Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5014-3099","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ezgi Ero\u011flu","family":"\u00c7akmako\u011flu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Adiyaman University, Adiyaman 02000, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ay\u015fe","family":"G\u00fcnay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Dicle University, Diyarbakir 21000, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"248","article-title":"Trends in oral health status: United States, 1988\u20131994 and 1999\u20132004","volume":"248","author":"Dye","year":"2007","journal-title":"Vital Health Stat. 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