Oral hygiene measured by mean gingival scores · Primary school children (aged 3-16 years) attending primary school in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
The effect of school-based interventions on gingival scores is uncertain and not statistically significant (SMD 0.12; very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries · Primary school children (aged 3-16 years) attending primary school in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
Among children aged 6-8 years, DMFT scores were significantly reduced (SMD -0.11); subgroup not separately GRADE-rated.
8 findings from 1 review
Effectiveness of primary school-based interventions in improving oral health of children in low- and middle-income… 2022 All outcomesPost-intervention; follow-up varied across studies (interventions ranged from <2 years to >=2 years and longer) · Primary schools in low- and middle-income countries (Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, eastern Mediterranean) · Age 6-8 years
SMD -0.11 [-0.17, -0.04]
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
Effectiveness of primary school-based interventions in improving oral health of children in low- and middle-income… 2022 All outcomesPost-intervention; follow-up varied across studies (interventions ranged from <2 years to >=2 years and longer) · Primary schools in low- and middle-income countries (Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, eastern Mediterranean) · <=3 intervention activities
SMD -0.58 [-1.62, 0.45]
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
Effectiveness of primary school-based interventions in improving oral health of children in low- and middle-income… 2022 All outcomes<2 years · Primary schools in low- and middle-income countries (Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, eastern Mediterranean) · Intervention duration <2 years
SMD 0.01 [-0.16, 0.18]
3 studies
GRADE not reported
Show 5 more findings
Specificity for detection of enamel caries · Asymptomatic children or adults suspected of enamel caries (clinical studies); extracted teeth (in vitro studies)
In the fully within-person analysis, fluorescence had a summary specificity of 0.88 (95% CrI 0.78, 0.94); ungraded.
2 findings from 1 review
Caries detection accuracy in unrestored molars and premolars · Dental images of human beings
The review reported 92.37% accuracy for automated caries detection in Duong et al. (Ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Recurrent caries (crowns free of recurrent caries) · Children with primary (deciduous) teeth requiring full-coverage crown restoration
Recurrent caries did not differ between zirconia crowns and other restorations at 6 months (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.03; 2 studies; not GRADE-rated).
2 findings from 1 review
Contribution of dental care products to total daily fluoride intake (TDFI), by tap-water fluoride level · Adults using fluoride-containing dental care products (two included studies [28,47]; aged 20-35)
In adults in poor-fluoridated tap water areas, dental care products contributed on average 12% of total fluoride exposure (ungraded; 1-2 studies).
3 findings from 1 review
Acute necrotising ulcerative gingivitis prevalence · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)
Acute necrotising ulcerative gingivitis was significantly more prevalent in treatment-naive CLWH than in those on ART (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
OR 0.00 [0.00, 0.02]
Studies not reported
Very low
Restoration failure · Children with carious primary teeth
No comparative effect estimate was reported; tabulated failure rates favored resin-modified GIC.
1 finding from 1 review
Specificity for detection of enamel caries · Asymptomatic children or adults suspected of enamel caries (clinical studies); extracted teeth (in vitro studies)
Visual or visual-tactile classification had a summary specificity of 0.81 (95% CrI 0.73, 0.87) for detecting enamel caries; low certainty.
2 findings from 1 review
Intervention not reported
Difference in summary sensitivity (NMA, Analysis 2)
1 finding from 1 review
Annual increment in DMFS (D3) · Primary school children (aged 3-16 years) attending primary school in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
Oral-health-education interventions significantly reduced net increment in DMFS (SMD -1.05); no significant subgroup difference vs other interventions (P=0.74).
5 findings from 1 review
Effectiveness of primary school-based interventions in improving oral health of children in low- and middle-income… 2022 All outcomesPost-intervention; follow-up varied across studies (interventions ranged from <2 years to >=2 years and longer) · Primary schools in low- and middle-income countries (Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, eastern Mediterranean) · Intervention type: oral health education
SMD -1.05 [-2.03, -0.08]
3 studies
GRADE not reported
Effectiveness of primary school-based interventions in improving oral health of children in low- and middle-income… 2022 All outcomesPost-intervention; follow-up varied across studies (interventions ranged from <2 years to >=2 years and longer) · Primary schools in low- and middle-income countries (Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, eastern Mediterranean) · WHO health-promoting-schools framework
SMD -0.57 [-1.56, 0.42]
2 studies
GRADE not reported
Effectiveness of primary school-based interventions in improving oral health of children in low- and middle-income… 2022 All outcomesPost-intervention; follow-up varied across studies (interventions ranged from <2 years to >=2 years and longer) · Primary schools in low- and middle-income countries (Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, eastern Mediterranean) · Non-WHO-framework interventions
SMD -1.88 [-3.15, -0.60]
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
Show 2 more findings
Recurrent oral ulcerations (WHO clinical stage 2) · Children or adolescents
CLWH on ART had significantly higher prevalence of recurrent oral ulcerations than healthy controls (pooled OR 6.83, 95% CI 1.18 to 39.53).
1 finding from 1 review
Restoration failure · Children with carious primary teeth
No comparative effect estimate was reported; the 7-second etching arm had a lower tabulated failure rate.
1 finding from 1 review
Caries distribution (individual/tooth/surface level) · European adolescents aged 12–19 years
Caries distribution was skewed at individual, tooth and surface levels and too heterogeneous to meta-analyze (narrative synthesis of 11 studies; not GRADE-rated).
1 finding from 1 review
No meta-analysis possible; caries distribution reported narratively from 11 studies as skewed at individual, tooth and surface levels, changing with age at tooth and surface level (Results – Caries distribution).
11 studies
GRADE not reported
Periodontal disease (gingivitis/periodontitis) · Children or adolescents
CLWH on ART had significantly higher prevalence of periodontal disease than healthy controls (pooled OR 3.11, 95% CI 1.62 to 5.97; moderate heterogeneity).
1 finding from 1 review
Oral candidiasis prevalence · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)
Oral candidiasis prevalence fell significantly after cART compared with before cART in the same children (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Intervention not reported
Food purchasing
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries prevalence measured by dmft or DMFT/S score greater than one · Primary school children (aged 3-16 years) attending primary school in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
School-based interventions may reduce the prevalence of dental caries (RR 0.70, favouring intervention), but the certainty of evidence is very low.
3 findings from 1 review
Dental caries · Children (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries
High SES showed no significant association with dental caries (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.31; 5 studies; not GRADE-rated).
2 findings from 1 review
Caries experience · European adolescents aged 13 years
Pooled caries experience was 1.45.
1 finding from 1 review