International Journal of Preventive Medicine (Int J Prev Med)2008-7802982018081919451945ENDepartment of Health Management, Policy and Economics, Faculty of Management and Medical Informatics, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, KermanHealth Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, KermanEndodontology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, KermanModeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, KermanModeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, KermanEducational Development Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, ArakSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman20180819<p><span class="fontstyle0">The relationship between households’ socioeconomic situation (SES) and children dental caries has been assessed in many Iranian studies to evaluate the effect of public dental care programs supporting the poor. Hence, this study through systematic review and meta‑analysis has presented a conclusion in this regard. Domestic and foreign databases were searched using keywords designed by concept map. Time limit to search the databases included articles published from 1994 to 2017. Twenty‑five articles were entered to the fnal step of the study, in which 49 relationships between SES and dental caries were assessed. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using </span><span class="fontstyle2">I</span><span class="fontstyle0" style="font-size: 5pt;">2</span><span class="fontstyle0">. Publication bias has been assessed using funnel plot and Egger’s test. The data were assessed by STATA 13.1. Odds ratio and mean difference of children dental caries in high SES households in comparison with low SES households were 0.41 (confdence interval [CI]: 0.30, 0.52) and -0.49 (CI: -0.85, -0.13),<br />respectively. The CI in both cases did not include “null or no effect line,” so there was a signifcant inverse relation between SES and dental caries. Despite the emphasis on upstream documents on equity in access to dental health services, there was high difference between SES groups in this regard. It is necessary to revise dental health programs at the country level to decrease these differences.<br /></span></p><p><span class="fontstyle3"><strong>Keywords</strong>: </span><span class="fontstyle2">Dental caries, Iran, meta‑analysis, socioeconomic factors</span> </p>http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/view/1945http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/download/1945/717717770