Objectives A systematic review was performed with the aim of determining whether there is
scientific evidence of the transmission of Streptococcus mutans from mother to child. Data
The eligibility criteria, based on the PECO strategy, were the following: observational human
studies whose subjects were mother and child pairs (P) contaminated by S. mutans (E);
comparison according to the presence or absence of S. mutans (C); and whether there is
transmission (O). The qualitative analysis was performed by assessing the risk of bias of the …

Results Thirty-six cross-sectional studies were included, with the age of the children varying
among the studies from three weeks to 15 years. All but one of the studies confirmed the
vertical transmission of S. mutans from mother to child by genetic methods. The pooled
cumulative meta-analysis demonstrated vertical transmission of S. mutans from mother to
child (p< 0.01) and showed a tendency of reduction in the percentage of vertical
transmission compared with the year the studies were published.