Objective To provide a systematic overview of the impact of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on oral health-related outcomes.Data sources For this PRISMA-compliant review, we searched PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Central for relevant studies published from database inception to 27 August 2020.Data selection and extraction Two reviewers assessed the abstracts and then the full text of the studies. Primary studies that evaluated the impact of any kind of SSB tax on oral health-related outcomes (that is, decayed, missing and filled teeth, caries increment and dental treatment costs) were included.Data synthesis Of 503 search results, five studies met the inclusion criteria. All five were modelling studies, from which four studies predicted an SSB tax to have a positive impact on oral health-related outcomes, whereas one study in a developing country did not find an SSB tax to be solely successful. According to three studies, the younger population and men are likely to benefit the most from such a tax. One study demonstrated the benefits of an SSB tax to be potentially more significant among low-income individuals.Conclusion While no empirical studies are available to support the benefits of an SSB tax, the studies covered in this review altogether anticipate a positive impact. Furthermore, this review discusses some of the obstacles and limitations of implementing such a tax predicted by the included studies.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the British Dental Association.