Initiation of water fluoridation (artificial or natural) vs Low/non-fluoridated water (0.4 ppm fluoride or less): Caries increment in permanent teeth
Initiation of water fluoridation (artificial or natural) led to lower caries in permanent teeth (change in DMFS) compared with low/non-fluoridated water (0.4 ppm fluoride or less); GRADE not reported.
What each review found
Current versions only| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Initiation of water fluoridation (artificial or natural) vs Low/non-fluoridated water (0.4 ppm fluoride or less) Caries in permanent teeth (change in DMFS) · Children aged about 12 to 16 years (Hardwick 1982), community setting · Follow-up (single study, Hardwick 1982) Initiation of water fluoridation (artificial or natural) led to lower caries in permanent teeth (change in DMFS) compared with low/non-fluoridated water (0.4 ppm fluoride or less); GRADE not reported. Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries (2015) · Cochrane All outcomes | MD -2.46 [-3.81, -1.11] | 1 study · 343 participants | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries 2015 · Cochrane All outcomes | 2015-02 | list not extracted yet | Not assessed |
Studies behind the findings
None of these reviews ties its included studies to this outcome in the data here. Cochrane reviews and reviews with headline outcomes only do not list their studies yet.
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.