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
- Optimal tooth brushing initiation age and frequency for preventing early childhood caries: a systematic review and… 2025 All outcomesCommunity/population-based; preschool children across Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia (32 studies; 34,050 children) · Primary analysis (all 10 studies)OR 1.40 [0.91, 2.16]10 studies · 23200 participantsGRADE not reported
- Optimal tooth brushing initiation age and frequency for preventing early childhood caries: a systematic review and… 2025 All outcomesCommunity/population-based; preschool children across Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia (32 studies; 34,050 children) · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis (Wagner 2017 outlier excluded, k=9)OR 1.75 [1.50, 2.03]9 studiesGRADE not reported