Abstract
Although there is a general agreement that a khat chewing habit produces clinicopathological changes in the oral mucosa. However there is no reliable evidence of the effects of a khat chewing habit on the periodontal tissues. Thus, authors aimed to investigate the influence of khat chewing habits on periodontal, oral health, by comparing khat chewers to non‐chewers in respect of gingival recession, periodontal pocketing depth and loss of attachment. A systematic review and meta‐analysis were conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guidelines. We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus and grey literature. The inclusion criteria were all studies with aims of comparing khat chewers and/or sides to non‐chewers and/or sides in respect of gingival recession, periodontal pocketing depth and loss of attachment. For continuous data, we computed weighted mean difference or standard mean difference analyses. An odds ratio using a random effect model was used if heterogeneity was detected; otherwise, a fixed effects model with a 95% confidence interval was used for continuous data. Two subgroups were analysed: khat chewers vs non‐chewers and khat chewer sides vs non‐chewer sides of the chewer's individuals. A total of 6373 participants were enrolled in 12 studies (khat chewers=3812, non‐chewers=2561). There were statistically significant differences between khat and non‐chewers in both subgroup analyses regarding gingival recession, periodontal pocketing depth and loss of attachment (P<.05). The odds ratios for khat chewers compared to non‐chewers, in respect of depth of periodontal pocket and gingival recession were 4.797 and 6.853 respectively. The results of this meta‐analysis have shown that the khat chewing habit produces a destructive and adverse effect on periodontal, oral health.