School-based supervised toothbrushing (STB) vs no intervention: Caries increment on tooth surfaces (dmfs/DMFS) (prevented fraction)
- Population
- Children in school or kindergarten settings (aged 3-14 years)
- Intervention
- School-based supervised toothbrushing (STB)
- Comparison
- no intervention
- Outcome
- Caries increment on tooth surfaces (dmfs/DMFS) (prevented fraction)
School-based supervised toothbrushing produces a small but statistically significant reduction in tooth-surface caries (DMFS/dmfs SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.42 to -0.01; ungraded).
What each review found
Include earlier review versions| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
School-based supervised toothbrushing (STB) vs No intervention Dental caries increment, DMFS/dmfs (tooth-surface level) · Children in school or kindergarten settings (aged 3-14 years) · 2-3 years follow-up, School/kindergarten (community-based) School-based supervised toothbrushing produces a small but statistically significant reduction in tooth-surface caries (DMFS/dmfs SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.42 to -0.01; ungraded). The effectiveness of school-based supervised tooth brushing intervention for preventing dental caries: a… (2025) All outcomes | SMD -0.22 [-0.42, -0.01] | 3 studies · 1135 participants | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The effectiveness of school-based supervised tooth brushing intervention for preventing dental caries: a systematic review and… 2025 All outcomes | February 2025 | 16 | Low / 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 Effects of a Supervised Toothbrushing Programme on the Caries Increment of Primary School Children, Initially Aged 5–6 Years · 2005 · included by 1 of these review
- Effectiveness of an oral health education and caries prevention program in kindergartens in China · 2003 · included by 1 of these review
- Prevention of Early Childhood Caries—Results of a Fluoride Toothpaste Demonstration Trial on Chinese Preschool Children after Three Years · 1998 · included by 1 of these review
- Curnow 2002 · included by 1 of these review
- Jackson 2005 · included by 1 of these review
- Rong 2003 · included by 1 of these review
- Schwarz 1998 · 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.