What do systematic reviews say?

CMC/sorbitol pre-moistened swabs vs Lemon glycerin swabs

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Patient preference favoured CMC/sorbitol (Chi2 10.89, df=1; P = 0.001).
  1 study · 20 participants
  GRADE not reported

Maxillary sinus lift (augmentation) with long implants vs Short implants (5 to 8.5 mm) without sinus augmentation

• Interventions for replacing missing teeth: augmentation procedures of the maxillary sinus 2014 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 to 5 months after loading
  Felice 2009a: all patients expressed no preference (biased by design). Esposito 2012: five months after loading, 15 patients preferred short implants whereas 5 described both procedures as equally acceptable.
  2 studies
  GRADE not reported

Osteotomes with mallet (Summers' technique) vs Rotary instruments (Cosci technique)

• Interventions for replacing missing teeth: augmentation procedures of the maxillary sinus 2014 · Cochrane All outcomes

  5 months after loading
  Five months after loading, 13 of 15 patients preferred the side treated with the Cosci (rotary) technique; binomial test P = 0.007 (significant). Basis for the review's low-quality-evidence statement that patients may…
  1 study · 15 participants
  GRADE not reported

Flapless implant placement vs Conventional flap elevation

Flapless implant placement led to higher patient preference compared with conventional flap elevation; GRADE not reported.

• Interventions for replacing missing teeth: management of soft tissues for dental implants 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes
  RR 106.70 [20.97, 542.82]
  1 study · 80 participants
  GRADE not reported

Saliva stimulant lozenge (sorbitol, Sorbee) vs Saliva substitute spray

Saliva stimulant lozenge (sorbitol, Sorbee) led to lower patient preference compared with saliva substitute spray (MouthKote); GRADE not reported.

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Stewart 1998: no statistically significant difference in patient preference between lozenge and spray (Analysis 2.3).
  1 study · 80 participants
  GRADE not reported

Consumption of xylitol chewing gum by women (mothers) vs Profylin lozenge (xylitol/sorbitol + CMC)

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Patients ranked gum and lozenge equal for preference.
  1 study · 18 participants
  GRADE not reported

CMC spray / aloe vera gel / canola oil spray vs Mucin spray (and between each other)

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  No significant difference in patient preference between the treatments (Chi2 3.67, df=3; P = 0.30).
  1 study · 123 participants
  GRADE not reported

Intraoral device releasing Biotene Oral Balance gel vs usual care without an aid

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  More participants preferred the intraoral device (66%) compared with usual care; data not suitable for meta-analysis.
  1 study · 30 participants
  GRADE not reported

Mucin-containing lozenge vs placebo control

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Patient preference strongly favoured the mucin lozenge (P < 0.001, binomial test).
  1 study · 42 participants
  GRADE not reported

Chewing gum vs Saliva substitute spray

Chewing gum (mechanical saliva stimulant) led to lower patient preference compared with saliva substitute spray; GRADE not reported.

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Bots 2005: statistically significant preference for chewing gum over Xialine spray, 39/49 (80%) preferred gum vs 10/49 (20%) spray (Chi2 17.16, df=1; P < 0.001) (Analysis 2.3). Davies 2000: more people preferred gum,…
  1 study · 65 participants
  GRADE not reported

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) spray vs Salinum linseed oil spray

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Statistically significant preference for linseed spray: of 17 with a preference, more favoured linseed (Chi2 4.77, df=1; P = 0.029); 3 expressed no preference.
  1 study · 20 participants
  GRADE not reported

Carbopol (polyacrylic acid/acetate) spray vs Placebo spray

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Patient preference for active sprays vs placebo nearly attained significance (Chi2 7.259, df=3; P = 0.064); 15/43 participants expressed no desire to continue any spray after the trial.
  1 study · 43 participants
  GRADE not reported

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) spray vs Placebo (spray base without CMC / water)

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Patient preference evenly split between CMC spray and spray base.
  1 study · 15 participants
  GRADE not reported

V6 chewing gum / mucin chewing gum vs Placebo chewing gum

• Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies 2011 · Cochrane All outcomes
  Preference favoured mucin gum (61%) over V6 (21%) and placebo (5%).
  1 study · 43 participants
  GRADE not reported

Inlay autogenous bone graft (iliac crest) vs Inlay bone substitute (Bio-Oss block)

Inlay autogenous bone graft (iliac crest) led to lower patient preference compared with inlay bone substitute (Bio-Oss block); GRADE not reported.

• Interventions for replacing missing teeth: horizontal and vertical bone augmentation techniques for dental implant… 2009 · Cochrane All outcomes

  1 month after definitive prostheses
  OR 0.03 [0.00, 0.64]
  1 study · 10 participants
  GRADE not reported

Chemically cured glass ionomer cement vs Light-cured compomer (polyacid-modified composite resin)

• Adhesives for fixed orthodontic bands 2016 · Cochrane All outcomes

  Approximately 12 months (to end of treatment)
  Williams 2005 (30 participants): a statistically significant difference in patient taste preference in favour of the glass ionomer over the light-cured composite resin (compomer).
  1 study · 30 participants
  GRADE not reported

Chemically cured glass ionomer cement vs Chemically cured glass phosphonate

• Adhesives for fixed orthodontic bands 2016 · Cochrane All outcomes

  Approximately 12 months (to end of treatment)
  Clark 2003: no statistically significant difference in taste between the two cements (glass ionomer vs glass phosphonate); authors caution the finding because both cements were used at the same sitting, so the taste of…
  1 study
  GRADE not reported

Ball (stud) attachment system vs Magnetic attachment system

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Interventions for replacing missing teeth: attachment systems for implant overdentures in edentulous jaws 2018 · Cochrane All outcomes
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Hypnosis vs Inhalation sedation with nitrous oxide and oxygen

• Hypnosis for children undergoing dental treatment 2010 · Cochrane All outcomes
  The majority of patients preferred inhalation sedation over hypnosis. (Braithwaite 2005; 10 patients.)
  1 study · 10 participants
  GRADE not reported

GTR rm + CAF vs GTR nrm + CAF

• Root coverage procedures for treating localised and multiple recession‐type defects 2018 · Cochrane All outcomes

  Short term (6 to 12 months)
  Roccuzzo 1996: all patients preferred the GTR treatment because it was a single-step procedure
  1 study
  GRADE not reported