Question · asked by 1 review

Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Fixed appliances: Lactobacilli presence (CFU > 10^5)

Population
Adults undergoing orthodontic treatment
Intervention
Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners)
Comparison
Fixed appliances
Outcome
Lactobacilli presence (CFU > 10^5)

Aligners probably lower the risk of high lactobacilli counts versus fixed appliances in adults at 3 months (RR 0.09, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.47; low certainty).

What each review found

Include earlier review versions
No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 0 · 0%Very low 0 · 0%Low 2 · 100%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
FindingEffectStudiesGRADE certainty
Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Fixed appliances
Lactobacilli presence (CFU > 10^5) · Adults undergoing orthodontic treatment · 3 months, Adults
Aligners probably lower the risk of high lactobacilli counts versus fixed appliances in adults at 3 months (RR 0.09, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.47; low certainty).
Impact of Aligners and Fixed Appliances on Oral Health during Orthodontic Treatment: A Systematic Review and… (2021) All outcomes
RR 0.09 [0.02, 0.47]2 studies · 140 participantsLow
Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Fixed appliances
Lactobacilli presence (CFU > 10^5) · Adults undergoing orthodontic treatment · 6 months, Adults
Aligners probably lower the risk of high lactobacilli counts versus fixed appliances in adults at 6 months (RR 0.19, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.45; low certainty).
Impact of Aligners and Fixed Appliances on Oral Health during Orthodontic Treatment: A Systematic Review and… (2021) All outcomes
RR 0.19 [0.08, 0.45]2 studies · 140 participantsLow

Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.

The reviews

ReviewSearched up toIncluded studiesAMSTAR 2
Impact of Aligners and Fixed Appliances on Oral Health during Orthodontic Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
2021 All outcomes
31 May 2021 (updated; initial search 21 August 2020)21Critically Low / Critically Low
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.