Fluoride mouthrinse (0.05-0.32% sodium fluoride or amine fluoride) added to daily fluoride toothpaste vs Control: fluoride toothpaste alone, placebo mouthrinse + toothpaste, or non-fluoride (chlorhexidine) mouthrinse + toothpaste: Incidence of initial enamel caries / white spot lesions adjacent to bracket base (subject level, dichotomized)
- Population
- Orthodontic patients (any age) undergoing orthodontic treatment (mostly fixed appliances)
- Intervention
- Fluoride mouthrinse (0.05-0.32% sodium fluoride or amine fluoride) added to daily fluoride toothpaste
- Comparison
- Control: fluoride toothpaste alone, placebo mouthrinse + toothpaste, or non-fluoride (chlorhexidine) mouthrinse + toothpaste
- Outcome
- Incidence of initial enamel caries / white spot lesions adjacent to bracket base (subject level, dichotomized)
Adding a fluoride mouthrinse to daily fluoride toothpaste produced a small reduction in the incidence of initial caries/white spot lesions adjacent to brackets (pooled risk difference -0.07, 95% CI -0.14 to -0.01; 5 studies, 491 subjects), but the authors judged the overall evidence inconclusive (ungraded).
What each review found
Include earlier review versions| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Fluoride mouthrinse (0.05-0.32% sodium fluoride or amine fluoride) added to daily fluoride toothpaste vs Control: fluoride toothpaste alone, placebo mouthrinse + toothpaste, or non-fluoride (chlorhexidine) mouthrinse + toothpaste Incidence of initial enamel caries / white spot lesions adjacent to bracket base (subject level, dichotomized) · Children, adolescents and adults undergoing fixed (multi-bracket) orthodontic treatment · End of intervention (6-26 months) to within 6 weeks after debonding, Clinical orthodontic (fixed multi-bracket appliance) treatment Adding a fluoride mouthrinse to daily fluoride toothpaste produced a small reduction in the incidence of initial caries/white spot lesions adjacent to brackets (pooled risk difference -0.07, 95% CI -0.14 to -0.01; 5 studies, 491 subjects), but the authors judged the overall evidence inconclusive (ungraded). Fluoride mouthrinses for prevention of initial caries in orthodontic patients - a systematic review and… (2025) All outcomes | RD -0.07 [-0.14, -0.01] | 5 studies · 491 participants | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride mouthrinses for prevention of initial caries in orthodontic patients - a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes | September 30, 2024 | 9 | Low / Critically Low |
Studies behind the findings
The primary studies the full-text reviews tie to this outcome. Reviews with headline outcomes only do not list them here.
- The Efficacy of Fluoride Rinse on Caries Increment, Plaque Occurrence and Gingival Status in Children Undergoing Orthodontic Treatment. A… · 2023 · included by 1 of these review
- Effect of high-fluoride toothpaste and mouth rinse on the prevention of demineralized lesions during orthodontic treatment: a randomized… · 2023 · included by 1 of these review
- Effect of nanosilver mouthwash on prevention of white spot lesions in patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment - a randomized… · 2022 · included by 1 of these review
- The Effectiveness Of Amine Fluoride Mouthwash In Preventing White Spot Lesions During Fixed Orthodontic Therapy: A Randomized Control Trial · 2021 · included by 1 of these review
- A prospective, randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial on the effects of a fluoride rinse on white spot lesion development and… · 2015 · included by 1 of these review
- Temporal interactions in the cat visual system. I. Orientation-selective suppression in the visual cortex. · 1991 · included by 1 of these review
- Zahid 2024 · included by 1 of these review
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.