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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

334 questions · 707 findings · 50 reviews

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No studies found 3 · 0.4%GRADE not reported 667 · 94.3%Very low 31 · 4.4%Low 4 · 0.6%Moderate 2 · 0.3%High 0 · 0%

Passive tobacco exposure (prenatal maternal smoking or postnatal secondhand/household smoke) vs No passive tobacco exposure (non-exposed children)

Dental caries · Children and adolescents (general population, aged under 20 years)

In children and adolescents, passive tobacco exposure (prenatal or postnatal) is associated with higher odds of dental caries (pooled OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.39 to 1.68; 21 studies), though heterogeneity was high (I2=86.5%); certainty of evidence not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence in primary teeth (cavitated lesions) · Children aged 5-6 years in Latin America and the Caribbean

In other Latin American/Caribbean countries, pooled primary-teeth caries prevalence was 70% (95% CI 59-79%), significantly higher than Brazil (p=0.002); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence in primary teeth (cavitated lesions) · Children aged 5-6 years in Latin America and the Caribbean

In Brazil, pooled primary-teeth caries prevalence in 5-6 year-olds was 52% (95% CI 49-54%); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence in primary teeth (cavitated lesions) · Children aged 5-6 years in Latin America and the Caribbean

About 56% of 5-6 year-old children in Latin America and the Caribbean had dental caries in primary teeth (95% CI 52-59%); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence in permanent teeth (cavitated lesions) · Children aged 11-13 years in Latin America and the Caribbean

In other Latin American/Caribbean countries, pooled permanent-teeth caries prevalence was 64% (95% CI 45-79%), not significantly different from Brazil (p=0.42); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence in permanent teeth (cavitated lesions) · Children aged 11-13 years in Latin America and the Caribbean

In Brazil, pooled permanent-teeth caries prevalence in 11-13 year-olds was 56% (95% CI 53-60%), with a significant declining trend over time; certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence in permanent teeth (cavitated lesions) · Children aged 11-13 years in Latin America and the Caribbean

About 58% of 11-13 year-old children in Latin America and the Caribbean had dental caries in permanent teeth (95% CI 54-61%); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Dental caries · Adults (≥18 years)

After adjustment for confounders, obesity/overweight was not associated with dental caries (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.12; ungraded).

9 findings from 1 review
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High-frequency sugar consumption (three or more times daily) vs Low sugar intake (fewer than three times daily)

Early childhood caries experience (mean dmft) · Nigerian children with primary dentition (approximately 6 months to 5 years)

In primary dentition, high-frequency sugar consumption was associated with slightly higher, non-significant odds of caries (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.23 to 5.44), with high heterogeneity (I2=83%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Down syndrome vs Individuals without Down syndrome (healthy controls: siblings, schoolchildren or others)

Dental caries · Individuals of all ages

Individuals with Down syndrome had a lower prevalence of dental caries than those without (pooled OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.57; 2 studies; I2=0%); certainty of evidence not graded.

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

Fluoride mouthrinse (0.05-0.32% sodium fluoride or amine fluoride) added to daily fluoride toothpaste vs Control: fluoride toothpaste alone, placebo mouthrinse + toothpaste, or non-fluoride (chlorhexidine) mouthrinse + toothpaste

Incidence of proximal (interdental) caries lesions from bitewing radiographs · Orthodontic patients (any age) undergoing orthodontic treatment (mostly fixed appliances)

Only one included study assessed proximal caries incidence from bitewing radiographs; it was not included in the meta-analysis and no pooled estimate is available (ungraded).

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