Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

132 questions · 185 findings · 31 reviews · Oral Health

No studies found 1 · 0.5%GRADE not reported 164 · 88.6%Very low 18 · 9.7%Low 1 · 0.5%Moderate 1 · 0.5%High 0 · 0%

Caregiver help with child tooth brushing vs Children without dental caries

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

Caregiver help with tooth brushing was associated with 65% lower odds of dental caries (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.93; 3 studies; very high heterogeneity; not GRADE-rated).

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 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

Socioeconomic status category vs Children without dental caries

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

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

Good brushing habits (>=2 daily tooth brushing) vs Children without dental caries

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

Good brushing habits (>=2 daily) were associated with 35% lower odds of dental caries (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.92; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Children without dental caries

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

Primary maternal education was associated with 25% higher odds of dental caries (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.54; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Children without dental caries

Dental caries (association with no formal maternal education) · Children (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

No formal maternal education showed a non-significant trend toward higher odds of dental caries (OR 1.34, 95% CI 0.76 to 2.36; 3 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption vs Children without dental caries

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

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption was associated with about twice the odds of dental caries in LMIC children (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.59 to 2.60; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Children without dental caries

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

Secondary/higher maternal education showed no significant association with dental caries (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.64 to 1.44; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy (HI) vs HIV-exposed but uninfected children (HEU)

Dental caries · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

HIV-infected children on ART had higher odds of dental caries than HEU children in a cohort study (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.71 to 4.84; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy (HI) vs HIV-unexposed uninfected children (HUU)

Dental caries · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

HIV-infected children on ART had higher odds of dental caries than HUU children in case-control studies (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.56; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

Non-syndromic cleft lip and palate (CLP) status and its oral microbiota (exposure/grouping) vs Children and adolescents aged 0-18 years without CLP (controls)

Dental caries · Children and adolescents aged 0-18 years with non-syndromic cleft lip and palate (CLP)

Pooling 3 studies, children/adolescents with CLP were about 2.03 times more likely to have dental caries than non-CLP controls (p<0.005; low heterogeneity), though most included studies were at high risk of bias; the evidence is ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Referral letter based on the common-sense model (CSM) plus dental information guide (DIG) vs Referral letter based on the common-sense model (CSM) alone

Proportion of children with treated/untreated caries (receipt of dental care) · School children, primary schools in the USA

It is very uncertain whether referral letter based on the common-sense model (CSM) plus dental… changes proportion of children with treated/untreated caries (receipt of… compared with referral letter based on the common-sense model (CSM) alone (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Referral letter based on the common-sense model (CSM) of self-regulation plus dental information guide (DIG) vs Standard referral letter

Proportion of children with treated/untreated caries (receipt of dental care) · School children, primary schools in the USA

It is very uncertain whether referral letter based on the common-sense model (CSM) of… changes proportion of children with treated/untreated caries (receipt of… compared with standard referral letter (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Simple childhood caries prediction models with at least two predictors vs No competing model

Dental caries discrimination (area under the curve) · Children or adolescents

The Luo (2021) model had an AUC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.76 to 0.77).

6 findings from 1 review
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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 the United Kingdom

In UK studies, OHPPs were associated with lower DMFT/S (OR 0.04, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.58; 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