Aim: The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature to answer the question: Are parental stress associated with early childhood caries (ECC)?
Methods: Electronic databases including MEDLINE (via Pubmed), Scopus and SciELO were searched. Cross-sectional and case-control studies that investigate the association between parental stress and ECC were included. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the risk of bias of the included articles.
Results: Out of 498 articles identified in initial research, 7 articles met the inclusion criteria; five were cross-sectional and two were control-case in design. A statistically significant correlation between ECC and total parental stress as well as a higher level of carious activity associated with total parental stress was reported in four studies. In two studies, no significant relationship between stress and ECC was found (P > 0.05) and in one study, parental stress was inversely associated with children's ECC status with better dental outcomes significantly associated with a higher level of parenting stress.
Conclusion: Despite the fact that the heterogenicity of the following data precluded conclusions to be drawn, it was obvious that parenting stress or some of its domains may influence the development of carious lesions in young children.
Keywords: Child; Dental caries; Parenting stress.