Edentulism and Tooth Loss in Iran: SEPAHAN Systematic Review No. 6

Objectives: tooth loss appears to have an important role in the lossof mastication and esthetics. the aim of this systematic review was toinvestigate the prevalence of tooth loss and edentulism in the iranianpopulation.methods: studies reviewed in this article were primarily identified viasearch of the online bibliographic databases including pubmed andiranian biomedical journals, by using “tooth loss”, “edentulism”, “epidemiology”,and “iran” as keywords. studies potentially related to thistopic were retrieved and the selection criteria applied. from the chosenstudies the eligible articles were reviewed.results: of the studies identified after conducting the search, 10 eligiblestudies were extracted. the prevalence of tooth loss ranges between0.3% in 3 to 5-year-old children to 70.7% in adults over 65. there is alack of well-designed epidemiological studies on edentulism and toothloss in iran. the prevalence of tooth loss is high and it increases byaging.conclusions: it seems that the prevalence of tooth loss is high amongadults in iran. it is highly suggested that population-based studiesshould be established to investigate the epidemiology and risk factorsof tooth loss in iran. the results of such studies will be useful in theadoption of appropriate preventive strategies.