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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

3,323 questions · 5,762 findings · 263 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 321 · 5.6%GRADE not reported 4,450 · 77.2%Very low 455 · 7.9%Low 297 · 5.2%Moderate 200 · 3.5%High 39 · 0.7%

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Glass ionomer cement vs Resin adhesive

Initiation of white spot lesions (WSL), visual-tactile assessment · People receiving orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances (upper and/or lower full arch)

Glass ionomer cement did not show a statistically significant difference in new white spot lesions versus resin adhesive (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Fixed appliances

S. mutans presence (CFU > 10^5) · Adults undergoing orthodontic treatment

Aligners probably lower the risk of high S. mutans counts versus fixed appliances in adults at 3 months (RR 0.07, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.49; low certainty).

2 findings from 1 review

Chemotherapy vs Placebo

Outcome not reported · People receiving curative-intent treatment for oral cavity and oropharyngeal (squamous cell) cancer

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence · General population in Ethiopia (all ages, age range 6-100 years)

Caries prevalence was lowest in Addis Ababa at 34.20% (95% CI 8.42 to 59.97); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Electrical conductance devices (electronic caries monitor (ECM) and/or CarieScan Pro), used as an adjunct to clinical oral examination vs Reference standard (histology, excavation, or enhanced visual examination)

Sensitivity for detection of enamel caries · Children, adolescents, or adults presenting asymptomatically or suspected of early enamel caries (in vivo), or extracted teeth of…
1 finding from 1 review
  • Electrical conductance for the detection of dental caries 2021 · Cochrane All outcomes
    Up to 3 months between index test and reference standard (in vivo studies)
    SoF findings (HSROC; no summary operating point reported): 'ECM: sensitivity from 0.61 to 0.98 ... CarieScan Pro: sensitivity from 0.55 to 0.91'. Across all 7 studies (8 datasets), covering 719 tooth surfaces or sites…
    7 studies
    Very low

Resin infiltration vs Non-invasive treatment

Radiographic proximal caries lesion progression · Patients with non-cavitated proximal (approximal) caries lesions (primary or permanent dentition)

Resin infiltration probably reduces the odds of proximal lesion progression compared with non-invasive treatment (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.29; moderate certainty).

6 findings from 1 review
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COE with vital rinsing (toluidine blue/tolonium chloride) vs Conventional oral examination (COE) alone

Specificity · Oral cavity cancer or potentially malignant disorder symptom-free individuals with tobacco habits
2 findings from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence · General population in Ethiopia (all ages, age range 6-100 years)

Caries prevalence in the Amhara region was 40.44% (95% CI 24.67 to 56.21); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Bleaching before resin infiltration (bleaching + infiltration) vs Resin infiltration alone

Patient/dentist satisfaction · Patients with dental fluorosis

Patient/dentist satisfaction did not differ between bleaching-then-infiltration and infiltration alone (SMD -1.53, 95% CI -4.75 to 1.70; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Analogue (conventional) radiographs vs Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) (direct within-person / paired comparison); reference standard: histology

Diagnostic accuracy: analogue versus CBCT (within-person, not pooled) · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review
  • Imaging modalities to inform the detection and diagnosis of early caries 2021 · Cochrane All outcomes
    Up to 3 months between index test and reference standard (in vivo studies)
    Direct comparison analogue vs CBCT (within-person): 6 datasets from 3 studies (737 tooth sites or surfaces) provided data, but the results could not be pooled; only individual study results are shown (Figure 21). No…
    3 studies
    GRADE not reported

Visual or visual-tactile classification systems (any system: ICDAS, ERK, Nyvad, Downer, Lussi, UniViSS, or unspecified) vs Reference standard (histology, excavation, radiographs/microCT, or tooth separation)

Diagnostic accuracy: in vitro versus in vivo comparison · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review
  • Visual or visual‐tactile examination to detect and inform the diagnosis of enamel caries 2021 · Cochrane All outcomes
    Up to 3 months between index test and reference standard (in vivo studies) · Study setting (in vitro vs in vivo)
    Pre-specified in vitro versus in vivo comparison was not completed because 49 of the 60 histology studies were in vitro; a sensitivity analysis removing the in vivo studies confirmed a minimal change to summary…
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Any of the interventions (CR, SE, SW, sealing with sealant materials, Hall Technique, or NRCC) vs Each other, placebo, or no treatment

Adverse events (any type) and safety of sealant · Children and/or adults with permanent or primary teeth, vital (sensitive) pulps, and cavitated or dentine carious lesions conventionally…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review

Edentulous (0 remaining teeth) vs 1-32 remaining teeth

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACVD)-related events (morbidity and mortality) · Adults (any age) with a known number of remaining teeth, followed prospectively in cohort studies

In prospective cohorts, the multivariable-adjusted HR for ACVD-related events in edentulous adults (0 teeth) vs adults with 1-32 teeth was 1.21 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.36; 5 studies, I2=35%); GRADE per-analysis ratings reported in Supplementary File 7 (not available in provided sources).

4 findings from 1 review
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COE with light-based detection (e.g. ViziLite Plus, Microlux/DL, VELscope, Identafi 3000) vs COE with vital rinsing (toluidine blue/tolonium chloride)

Outcome not reported · Apparently healthy adults not reporting symptoms of OPMD or OSCC, attending an organised screening or surveillance programme, or screened…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review