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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

135 questions · 230 findings · 32 reviews · Oral Health

No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 208 · 90.4%Very low 13 · 5.7%Low 6 · 2.6%Moderate 3 · 1.3%High 0 · 0%

Low tooth brushing frequency (<2 times/day) vs High tooth brushing frequency (>=2 times/day)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Healthy children under 6 years of age (6 months to 6 years); preschool children

After excluding an extreme outlier (Alhabdan 2018), the association between low brushing frequency and ECC remained statistically significant (pooled OR approximately 2.0, p=0.003; I2=87.5%); the exact estimate and its CI were not reported; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Late tooth brushing initiation (>=12 months, or >=2 years in some studies) vs Early tooth brushing initiation (<12 months, or <2 years)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Healthy children under 6 years of age (6 months to 6 years); preschool children

In the primary pooled analysis, late tooth brushing initiation was associated with a non-significant 40% higher odds of early childhood caries (OR 1.40, 95% CI 0.91 to 2.16), with very high heterogeneity (I2=90.5%); ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Primary maternal education prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 42% of children with caries in LMICs had mothers with primary education (pooled prevalence 0.425, 95% CI 0.280 to 0.576; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

No formal maternal education prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 10% of children with caries in LMICs had mothers with no formal education (pooled prevalence 0.101, 95% CI 0.033 to 0.201; 3 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Clinical examination with 24-month recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Dental caries: prevalence of moderate to extensive caries (ICDAS 3-6) · Dentate adults (aged 18 years and older) receiving dental check-ups in UK general dental practices (regular attenders)

Clinical examination with 24-month recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: prevalence of moderate to extensive caries (ICDAS 3-6) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Dental caries: prevalence of moderate to extensive caries (ICDAS 3-6) · Dentate adults (aged 18 years and older) receiving dental check-ups in UK general dental practices (regular attenders)

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: prevalence of moderate to extensive caries (ICDAS 3-6) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 24-month recall

Dental caries: prevalence of moderate to extensive caries (ICDAS 3-6) · Dentate adults (aged 18 years and older) receiving dental check-ups in UK general dental practices (regular attenders)

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: prevalence of moderate to extensive caries (ICDAS 3-6) compared with clinical examination with 24-month recall (moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 70% of children with caries in LMICs consumed sugary drinks/sweets (pooled prevalence 0.697, 95% CI 0.478 to 0.877; 7 studies; very high heterogeneity; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Primary school-based interventions (one or more of: school health policy, oral health education, healthy school environment, access to oral health services, community involvement) vs usual practice

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

Caregiver help with child tooth brushing vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Caregiver help with tooth brushing prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 54% of children with caries in LMICs received caregiver help with tooth brushing (pooled prevalence 0.541, 95% CI 0.266 to 0.803; 3 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Secondary/higher maternal education prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 45% of children with caries in LMICs had mothers with secondary or higher education (pooled prevalence 0.450, 95% CI 0.330 to 0.572; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Higher JIA disease activity/severity (e.g., high JADAS/activity scores, polyarticular RF-negative subtype, active disease, anti-TNFalpha or cyclosporine medication) vs Lower JIA disease activity / inactive or milder JIA

Prevalence and severity of oral and TMJ diseases/conditions (periodontal status and dental caries) · Children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)

Some studies suggested greater JIA disease activity/severity (and certain medications) was associated with worse periodontal and caries outcomes, but small samples meant no solid conclusion could be drawn (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

All fluorescence-based devices (red, blue, and green fluorescence combined) vs Reference standard (histology, excavation, or enhanced visual examination)

Diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) by subgroup: Low dentine-caries prevalence (<=14%) (detection of early enamel caries, D1 threshold) · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review

All fluorescence-based devices (red, blue, and green fluorescence combined) vs Reference standard (histology, excavation, or enhanced visual examination)

Diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) by subgroup: High dentine-caries prevalence (>=35%) (detection of early enamel caries, D1 threshold) · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review

All fluorescence-based devices (red, blue, and green fluorescence combined) vs Reference standard (histology, excavation, or enhanced visual examination)

Diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) by subgroup: Medium dentine-caries prevalence (15% to 34%) (detection of early enamel caries, D1 threshold) · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review