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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

394 questions · 795 findings · 66 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 5 · 0.6%GRADE not reported 753 · 94.7%Very low 31 · 3.9%Low 4 · 0.5%Moderate 2 · 0.3%High 0 · 0%

Residence in weakly contaminated area (approx. 1-5 Ci/km2) vs Residence in non-contaminated (non-exposed) area (<1 Ci/km2)

Dental caries · Children of mixed ages (mean approximately 12 years; no age separation)

In children of mixed ages from a weakly contaminated area, one study reported higher DMFT/dmft in exposed than non-exposed children; not pooled (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children aged 0-12 years in Ireland

The single Irish study showed lower DMFT/S with OHPP (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.61; ungraded, single study).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children aged 0-12 years in Japan

The single Japanese study yielded a degenerate estimate of OR 0.00 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.00; ungraded, single study).

1 finding from 1 review

Residence in heavily contaminated area (approx. 15-40 Ci/km2) vs Residence in non-contaminated (non-exposed) area (<1 Ci/km2)

Dental caries · Children aged 5-7 years (early school-age)

In early school-age children (5-7 y) from heavily contaminated areas, individual studies gave conflicting DMFT/dmft differences (some favouring exposed, some non-exposed); the review did not pool them (ungraded).

4 findings from 1 review
Show 1 more finding

Residence in low-contamination area (approx. 5-15 Ci/km2) vs Residence in non-contaminated (non-exposed) area (<1 Ci/km2)

Dental caries · Children aged 5-7 years (early school-age)

In early school-age children (5-7 y) from a low-contamination area, one study reported higher DMFT/dmft in exposed than non-exposed children; the estimate was not pooled (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children aged 0-12 years (studies published 2015 or later)

In studies published from 2015 onward, OHPPs were associated with lower DMFT (OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.53; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children with dental caries

Oral-health promotion programs were associated with markedly lower odds of DMFT/S in children (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.39; ungraded, very high heterogeneity I2=98.5%).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children aged 0-12 years in Finland

The single Finnish study showed lower DMFT/S with OHPP (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.56; ungraded, single study).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children aged 0-12 years (studies published before 2015)

In studies published before 2015, OHPPs were associated with lower DMFT (OR 0.01, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.13; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children aged 6 years and older (healthy except for dental caries)

In children aged 6 years and older, OHPPs showed no significant effect on DMFT/S (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.08 to 1.01; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral-health promotion programs (OHPPs): community-based oral-health education/training, supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and topical fluoride, dental screening, and dietary advice vs No oral-health promotion program, or a differing (usual-care) action under similar conditions

DMFT/DMFS index (dental caries experience) · Children younger than 6 years (healthy except for dental caries)

In children younger than 6 years, OHPPs were associated with lower odds of DMFT/S (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.39; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children in primary dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Overweight may make little or no difference to caries experience (dmft) in the primary dentition of Brazilian children (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children/adolescents in permanent dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Overweight may make little or no difference to caries experience (DMFT) in the permanent dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Obesity (Unclassified) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children in primary dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Obesity may make little or no difference to caries experience (dmft) in the primary dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Obesity (Unclassified) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children/adolescents in permanent dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Normal-weight adolescents may have higher caries experience (DMFT) than obese peers in the permanent dentition, but the evidence is very uncertain (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Socioeconomic status category vs Children without dental caries

Dental caries (association with middle SES) · Children (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

Middle SES showed no significant association with dental caries (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.10; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) vs Children and adolescents without JIA (healthy peers)

Caries in primary teeth: dmft (3 years) · Children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)

There was no significant difference in dental caries of the primary teeth (dmft) between children with JIA and healthy peers (pooled MD -1.16, 95% CI -3.02 to 0.71; 3 cross-sectional studies; very high heterogeneity I2=87.9%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Highest BMI category (overweight/obese) vs Lowest BMI category (normal weight/underweight)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children (approx. 4-18 years)

In the Region: Asian countries subgroup, the BMI (highest vs lowest)-childhood caries association was significant (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.32; ungraded).

17 findings from 1 review
Show 14 more findings

Genome-wide common variants (additive dosage; present-study GWAS) vs Genome-wide significance threshold (P<5E-8)

Dental caries - genome-wide-significant loci · Japanese adults (present-study cohort: 30,859 dental caries cases / 14,666 controls)

The present Japanese GWAS found no genome-wide-significant loci for dental caries (top suggestive rs140784657); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies two novel loci associated with dental caries. 2024 All outcomes
    Lifelong (germline genotype) · Population-based genetic association study (Japanese direct-to-consumer genetic testing cohort) · Present-study GWAS (Japanese)
    In the present Japanese GWAS, no loci reached genome-wide significance (P<5E-8) for dental caries; several loci reached the suggestive level (P<1E-5). Top-associated variant rs140784657 (intergenic). All 47 lead…
    1 study · 45525 participants
    GRADE not reported

Institutionalization (living in an orphanage/institution) vs Parented children living with their families

Dental caries prevalence · Institutionalized orphan children (roughly 3 to 18 years)

Institutionalized orphan children may be at higher risk of dental caries than parented children (pooled RR 1.19), but the estimate is imprecise and not statistically significant (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review