Associação entre nódulos pulpares e doenças arteriais coronarianas: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries is characterized by reduction in the blood supply to the heart muscle due to the obstruction of arteries by calcified masses. Pulpal nodules are calcified masses present in the deciduous and permanent dentitions. This study systematically reviewed the evidence on the association between pulp stones and atherosclerosis. In order to do this, an electronic research was conducted in 11 databases (Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, LILACS/BBO, Science Direct, Embase, Web of Science, LIVIVO), including the grey literature (OpenGrey, ProQuest e Google Scholar). Eligibility criteria included cross-sectional or case-control studies that evaluated the association of pulp stones (diagnosed by imaging) in adult permanent teeth and the diagnosis about arterial calcifications, with no restrictions on year of publication or languages. The risk of bias was analyzed with the JBI Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional or Case-Control Studies. The initial search resulted in 2242 studies, of which only seven studies were included. Among the seven studies, two studies concluded that there was an association between pulp stones and arteriosclerosis, while in five studies there was no association found. Most of the studies presented moderate risk of bias, however all studies showed important biases in relation to confounding factors. It was concluded that the literature found is limited, but most existing evidence indicates that there aren’t associations between pulp stones and arteriosclerosis.