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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,745 questions · 4,389 findings · 203 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 39 · 0.9%GRADE not reported 3,844 · 87.6%Very low 198 · 4.5%Low 137 · 3.1%Moderate 134 · 3.1%High 37 · 0.8%

No intervention (single-arm cohort estimates) vs No comparator

First dentine caries incidence rate per person-year at risk (D3) · Caries-free children and adolescents with permanent dentition

Sánchez-Pérez et al. 2010 reported an incidence rate of 0.07 per person-year at risk.

16 findings from 1 review
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38% silver diamine fluoride vs Fluoride varnish

Arrest or reversal of noncavitated and cavitated root carious lesions · Adults (including institutionalized/older adults) with noncavitated and cavitated carious lesions on root surfaces (permanent teeth)

38% SDF solution (applied annually) may not differ from 5% NaF varnish for arrest or reversal of root carious lesions (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.04 to 9.66; very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

1.23% APF gel vs CPP-ACP

Arrest or reversal of noncavitated carious lesions on any coronal surface · Children and adults with noncavitated carious lesions on any coronal surface (primary and permanent teeth)

1.23% APF gel was probably more effective than 10% CPP-ACP paste for arrest or reversal of any-coronal carious lesions (RR 2.19, 95% CI 1.83 to 2.61; moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence · Children (<12 years) and adolescents (12-18 years) with type 1 diabetes

Caries prevalence was highest in South American studies at 84% (95% CI 0.67 to 0.94); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

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 12-15 years (adolescents)

In adolescents (12-15 y) from a low-contamination area, individual studies reported higher DMFT/dmft in exposed than non-exposed children; not pooled (ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

0.2% NaF mouthrinse + supervised toothbrushing vs Sealant

Arrest or reversal of noncavitated occlusal carious lesions · Children and adults with noncavitated carious lesions on occlusal surfaces (primary and permanent teeth)

0.2% NaF mouthrinse + supervised toothbrushing may not differ from Sealant for arrest or reversal of occlusal carious lesions (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.14; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence · Children (<12 years) and adolescents (12-18 years) with type 1 diabetes

Caries prevalence in Asian studies was 67% (95% CI 0.43 to 0.85); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

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

Dental caries · Children aged 12-15 years (adolescents)

In adolescents (12-15 y) from weakly contaminated areas, individual studies mostly reported higher DMFT/dmft in exposed children but with wide variation; the review did not pool the data (ungraded).

9 findings from 1 review
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color contrast: black vs dark brown/light brown/yellow vs hardness contrast: soft vs medium/hard

total microbial load (log10 CFU) · humans with open primary dentine caries

In one study, hardness category differences exceeded color category differences; no meta-analysis was conducted.

1 finding from 1 review

Longitudinal follow-up over time (natural caries progression; no assigned intervention) vs Within-cohort change from baseline to follow-up (>=3 y)

Annual increment in DMFT (permanent dentition) · Children and adolescents (permanent dentition, D3, up to 21 y), Western or comparable populations

In the permanent dentition, the annual DMFT increment ranged from 0.06 to 0.73 across 14 studies, and was higher where baseline caries experience was higher (descriptive range; ungraded).

4 findings from 1 review
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  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Per year of follow-up · Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand (or comparable Western populations) · Baseline caries experience: moderate
    0.24 to 0.73
    6 studies · 16705 participants
    GRADE not reported

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence · Children (<12 years) and adolescents (12-18 years) with type 1 diabetes

Caries prevalence was lowest among those with good metabolic control at 47% (95% CI 0.30 to 0.64); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

38% silver diamine fluoride vs placebo

Root carious lesions arrest · Older adults with root carious lesions (exposed root surfaces)

One review reported SDF may reduce progression of root caries, with no numeric result (ungraded).

3 findings 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 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

Intervention not reported

Dental caries prevalence · Children (<12 years) and adolescents (12-18 years) with type 1 diabetes

Caries prevalence in European studies was 57% (95% CI 0.41 to 0.72); certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

38% SDF solution (applied biannually) vs 38% SDF solution (applied annually)

Arrest of advanced cavitated carious lesions on any coronal surface · Preschool children with advanced cavitated carious lesions on any coronal surface (primary teeth)

38% SDF solution (applied biannually) was more effective than 38% SDF solution (applied annually) for arrest or reversal of cavitated coronal carious lesions (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.3; high certainty).

4 findings from 1 review
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Sealant (any type) vs no treatment

Arrest or reversal of noncavitated occlusal carious lesions · Children and adults with noncavitated carious lesions on occlusal surfaces (primary and permanent teeth)

Sealant was probably more effective than no treatment for arrest or reversal of occlusal carious lesions (RR 1.98, 95% CI 1.61 to 2.44; moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Longer follow-up vs Shorter follow-up

Caries incidence rate per person-year at risk (D3) · Children and adolescents with permanent dentition

Adjusted for groups 1-4 including relevance of evidence and risk of bias meta-regression beta was -0.02 per additional follow-up year.

5 findings from 1 review
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Per additional year of follow-up · Western or comparable populations · Adjusted for groups 1-4 including relevance of evidence and risk of bias
    Meta-regression beta per year of follow-up -0.02 [-0.05, 0.01]
    15 studies · 10768 participants
    GRADE not reported
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Per additional year of follow-up · Western or comparable populations · Adjusted for bitewings age at baseline and baseline caries experience
    Meta-regression beta per year of follow-up 0.00 [-0.00, 0.01]
    15 studies · 10768 participants
    GRADE not reported
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Per additional year of follow-up · Western or comparable populations · Adjusted for bitewings and age at baseline
    Meta-regression beta per year of follow-up 0.00 [-0.00, 0.01]
    15 studies · 10768 participants
    GRADE not reported
Show 2 more findings
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Per additional year of follow-up · Western or comparable populations · Adjusted for groups 1-3 including decade and preventive intervention
    Meta-regression beta per year of follow-up -0.00 [-0.02, 0.02]
    15 studies · 10768 participants
    GRADE not reported
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Per additional year of follow-up · Western or comparable populations · Not adjusted
    Meta-regression beta per year of follow-up -0.00 [-0.01, 0.01]
    15 studies · 10768 participants
    GRADE not reported

Placebo rinse vs Pre-treatment (baseline, same group)

Lactobacillus count (pre- vs post-treatment) · Medically healthy individuals (adults and children, 6-60 years)

Placebo rinse did not significantly change Lactobacillus counts relative to baseline; not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

Laser enamel preparation alone (Er,Cr:YSGG or CO2 laser) vs Acid-etching (phosphoric acid)

Development of >=1 new carious lesion (caries incidence) · Caries-free children to young adults with premolars/molars requiring pit-and-fissure sealants

In the single study reporting it, caries incidence was 0% in both the laser-alone and acid-etching groups (ungraded, single study).

1 finding from 1 review