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Each row is one question a systematic review asked: who, what, compared with what, and which outcome, with the effect it found and how certain that is. Words match anywhere in the field.
5,762 questions in 263 reviews · Dental caries
current versionsNo studies 321 · 5.6%Ungraded 4,450 · 77.2%Very low 455 · 7.9%Low 297 · 5.2%Moderate 200 · 3.5%High 39 · 0.7%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
| Question | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) vs Bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) Plaque Index (PI) · Patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) Oral health in patients with cleft lip and palate: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of… (2025) | MD -0.13 [-0.38, 0.12] | 2 studies · 117 participants | Ungraded |
Simple childhood caries prediction models with at least two predictors vs No competing model Dental caries discrimination (area under the curve) · Children and adolescents (≤18 years) · Validation assessment; prediction horizon not reported, Wickramasinghe (2022) Risk prediction models for dental caries in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) | AUC 0.592 [0.514, 0.671] | 1 study | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted pulp and periapical diseases vs Without pulp and periapical diseases (lower genetic liability) Lacunar stroke · European-ancestry adults (GWAS) The contribution of oral infectious diseases in lacunar stroke based on meta-analysis and Mendelian… (2025) | OR 1.20 [1.03, 1.41] | NR | Ungraded |
Heat-killed probiotic and postbiotic oral lozenges vs Placebo Reduced dental plaque index · Adults with dental caries · 4 weeks Postbiotics and Dental Caries: A Systematic Review. (2025) | One RCT in adults reported a significant reduction in plaque index with postbiotic/heat-killed lozenges versus placebo (Lin 2022); no pooled estimate. | 1 study | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 8: disruption of occlusal integrity · HDI: High Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 0.39 [0.26, 0.58] | 7 studies | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 1: partial loss or fracture of the restoration · HDI: Medium Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 0.29 [0.07, 1.21] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted periodontitis vs Lower genetically predicted periodontitis liability Osteoporosis with pathological fracture · European GWAS participants · SVMR MR-Egger From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 0.953 [0.813, 1.117] | 376746 participants | Ungraded |
Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference) Risk of fractures (any site) · General population (both sexes, all ages) · Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure, Drinking-water fluoride 3.0 mg/L vs null The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. (2025) | RR 1.19 [0.87, 1.64] | 4 studies | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Specificity · Imaging modality: CBCT Examining the diagnostic accuracy of artificial intelligence for detecting dental caries across a range of… (2025) | Specificity 1.00 [0.99, 1.00] | 1 study | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted periodontitis vs Lower genetically predicted periodontitis liability Forearm fracture · European GWAS participants · SVMR Maximum Likelihood From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 0.990 [0.950, 1.032] | 490889 participants | Ungraded |
Artificial intelligence algorithms for caries detection vs Dental expert or visual-tactile/clinical assessment as reference standard Positive post-test probability · Dental images or diagnostic tests for dental caries detection · Overall (all imaging modalities pooled) Examining the diagnostic accuracy of artificial intelligence for detecting dental caries across a range of… (2025) | Post-test probability 0.79 | 20 studies | Ungraded |
Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers IL-8 level · People who use electronic cigarettes · GCF The effects of electronic smoking on dental caries and proinflammatory markers: a systematic review and… (2025) | no estimate extracted | 1 study | Ungraded |
Self-assembling/remineralizing peptide (e.g., P11-4, PAA-PASP) vs No biomimetic remineralization (control) Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Etch-and-Rinse + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD 4.553 [-0.635, 9.740] | 4 studies | Moderate |
Microinvasive techniques (resin infiltration or glass ionomer varnish) vs Non-invasive measures (fluoride varnish/toothpaste, flossing, oral hygiene instruction, sham/standard of care) Radiographic progression of proximal caries lesions · Children with non-cavitated proximal caries lesions in primary teeth (ages 3-9) · Final follow-up (1 to 2 years across trials), Primary teeth (Fig. 6, subgroup 2.1.2) Microinvasive interventions in the management of proximal caries lesions in primary and permanent teeth-… (2025) | OR 0.38 [0.25, 0.57] | 5 studies · 266 participants | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 8: disruption of occlusal integrity · HDI: Medium Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 0.88 [0.14, 5.56] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted dental caries (DMFS index) vs Reference (1-SD lower genetically predicted DMFS) Fracture of lumbar spine and pelvis · European-ancestry adults · Lifelong genetic liability, SVMR (IVW), total causal effect From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 0.950 [0.810, 1.113] | 490700 participants | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Bacterial count reduction · AR-assisted toothbrush vs manual toothbrushing The Application of Gamification in Children's Oral Health Management: Systematic Review. (2025) | Narrative (P value) Significant reduction in bacterial count with AR-assisted toothbrush (P<.05) | 1 study | Ungraded |
Lacunar stroke (cases) vs Without lacunar stroke (controls) Clinical attachment level (CAL) · Adults The contribution of oral infectious diseases in lacunar stroke based on meta-analysis and Mendelian… (2025) | MD 1.34 [0.63, 2.05] | 4 studies | Ungraded |
Low periodontal-disease prevalence vs Not applicable OHRQoL sum score transformed to 0-100 · Community-dwelling adults aged 60 years or older · Baseline for longitudinal studies, Low periodontal-disease prevalence Association between oral health-related quality of life and structural determinants of health among elderly… (2025) | There were no statistically significant differences reported in the OHRQoL sum scores based on periodontal disease prevalence. | NR | Ungraded |
Caries-active status (presence of dental caries) vs Caries-free status Prevalence (detection frequency) of S. mutans in plaque · Systemically healthy individuals (children and adults, aged 40 months to 50 years) assessed for dental caries · Cross-sectional, Plaque sample Streptococcus mutans and Caries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. (2025) | OR 2.58 [1.65, 4.02] | 7 studies · 559 participants | Ungraded |
Hall technique vs Silver-modified atraumatic restorative treatment (SMART) Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth · 12 months, 12-month follow-up Comparative success of minimally invasive treatments for cavitated caries in primary teeth: a network… (2025) | OR 4.36 [1.13, 16.77] | 43 studies | Moderate |
Intervention NR Inhibition of S. sobrinus growth and biofilm formation (incl. ftf/gtfB/gtfC expression) · In vitro Postbiotics and Dental Caries: A Systematic Review. (2025) | no estimate extracted | 1 study | Ungraded |
AI systems for caries detection/segmentation on dental X-ray images (predominantly convolutional neural networks; also ANNs, DNNs, DCNN, FCNN, SVMs, decision trees, random forests; e.g. EfficientNet, ResNet, AlexNet) vs Human dentists / trained dental professionals or traditional radiographic interpretation (reference standard / reference models) Sensitivity · Patients undergoing dental X-ray (radiographic) imaging for caries detection · Overall (all studies pooled) Accuracy of artificial intelligence in caries detection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) | OR 1.258 [0.493, 2.540] | 9 studies · 17190 participants | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries · Continent: South America Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 7.62 [5.59, 10.38] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 7: non-stable (mobile) restoration · HDI: Medium Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 12.93 [8.77, 19.05] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Calcium vs Fluorine Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · permanent human teeth with artificial caries-affected dentin · 24 h, Etch-and-Rinse; chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD -0.628 [-8.504, 7.248] | 4 studies | Moderate |
Postbiotic toothpaste vs Fluoride toothpaste Increased salivary pH · Children aged 6-12 years · 4 weeks Postbiotics and Dental Caries: A Systematic Review. (2025) | Postbiotic toothpaste significantly increased salivary pH versus fluoride toothpaste in children (Basir 2022); postbiotics are also proposed to buffer acidic pH; no pooled estimate. | 1 study | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted dental caries (DMFS index) vs Reference (1-SD lower genetically predicted DMFS) Fracture of forearm · European-ancestry adults · Lifelong genetic liability, SVMR (IVW), total causal effect From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 0.921 [0.838, 1.012] | 490889 participants | Ungraded |
Orofacial cleft (cleft lip and/or palate) as exposure vs Healthy controls without cleft Probing Pocket Depth (PPD) · Individuals assessed for periodontal health (mainly children and adolescents, age >2 years) Oral health in patients with cleft lip and palate: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of… (2025) | MD 0.88 [0.82, 0.95] | 3 studies · 340 participants | Low |
quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) vs reference standard detection of occlusal caries · human primary or permanent teeth with dental caries lesions · all dentitions Diagnostic accuracy of quantitative light-induced fluorescence in detecting caries of various types and… (2025) | Specificity 0.82 | 4 studies | Ungraded |
Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference) Risk of fragility fractures · Females (all ages) · Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure, Females: drinking-water fluoride 0.34 mg/L vs null The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. (2025) | RR 0.84 [0.67, 1.07] | NR | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted periodontitis vs Lower genetically predicted periodontitis liability Postmenopausal osteoporosis with pathological fracture · European GWAS participants · SVMR Maximum Likelihood From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 1.014 [0.872, 1.179] | 281786 participants | Ungraded |
Flavonoids (e.g., quercetin, proanthocyanidin) vs Calcium phosphate agent (e.g., CPP-ACP, Ca/P-PILP, niobophosphate) Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Self-Etch + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD 3.065 [-4.318, 10.447] | 0 studies | Moderate |
Hydroxyapatite (e.g., nano-HAp) vs Calcium phosphate agent (e.g., CPP-ACP, Ca/P-PILP, niobophosphate) Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Self-Etch + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD -4.455 [-8.857, -0.053] | 0 studies | Moderate |
Intervention NR Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 5: open margin · Continent: Europe Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 4.04 [2.03, 8.06] | 6 studies | Ungraded |
Ion-releasing restorations (IRR): RMGIC, HVGIC, GIC, compomer/PMRC, giomer vs Composite resin (CR), including bulk-fill composite Retention · Children receiving dental restorations (aged 4-11 years; primary teeth; Class I/II/V cavities) · 1 to 2 years Clinical effectiveness of ion-releasing restorations compared to composite restorations in pediatric dental… (2025) | RR 1.02 [0.98, 1.07] | 5 studies · 555 participants | High |
Severe early childhood caries vs Caries-free controls Veillonella spp. relative abundance · Children under 6 years with severe early childhood caries and caries-free controls A systematic review of Streptococcus Mutans and Veillonellae species interactions in dental caries… (2025) | Mean relative abundance (%) caries 5.25 (SD 6.65) vs control 15.22 (SD 9.48); P=0.033 | 1 study · 9 (caries only; control not reported in Table 3) participants | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Study design: population-based Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) | Prevalence 57 [44, 70] | 7 studies | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted DMFS (dental caries) vs Lower genetically predicted DMFS, adjusted for periodontitis Postmenopausal osteoporosis with pathological fracture · European GWAS participants · MVMR MR-Egger From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 1.281 [0.640, 2.565] | 281786 participants | Ungraded |
Ion-releasing restorations (IRR): RMGIC, HVGIC, GIC, compomer/PMRC, giomer vs Composite resin (CR), including bulk-fill composite Proper surface texture or luster · Children receiving dental restorations (aged 4-11 years; primary teeth; Class I/II/V cavities) · 1.5 to 2 years Clinical effectiveness of ion-releasing restorations compared to composite restorations in pediatric dental… (2025) | RR 1.00 [0.97, 1.02] | 4 studies · 720 participants | High |
Cavity liner (calcium hydroxide, glass-ionomer cement, resin-modified calcium silicate/TheraCal LC, hydraulic calcium silicate/MTA or Biodentine, flowable composite, or other liner material) vs No cavity liner or a different liner material Secondary caries prevention · Patients with deep caries lesions in mature or immature permanent (posterior) teeth, with no symptoms or reversible… · >=12 months Efficacy of different cavity liners compared to no cavity lining in managing deep caries in vital permanent… (2025) | No significant difference; ~100% prevention | 10 studies · 1009 participants | Low |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · By sample size: n ≥ 5000 Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) | OR 1.04 [0.92, 1.16] | NR | Ungraded |
Self-assembling/remineralizing peptide (e.g., P11-4, PAA-PASP) vs Fluoride agent (e.g., NaF/SDF/KF/CaF2) Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Etch-and-Rinse + biological ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD 14.098 [9.684, 18.512] | 2 studies | Moderate |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 7: non-stable (mobile) restoration · Continent: Asia Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 18.59 [7.66, 45.10] | 11 studies | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 4: marginal discoloration · Continent: South America Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 4.71 [2.97, 7.49] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Mean dmft (caries severity) · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · Overall Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) | MEAN 2.95 [1.86, 4.67] | 13 studies | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Radiographic progression of proximal caries lesions · Caries depth: lesions up to DEJ (favored microinvasive; narrative, no numeric estimate) Microinvasive interventions in the management of proximal caries lesions in primary and permanent teeth-… (2025) | no estimate extracted | NR | Ungraded |
Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers IL-1β level · People who use electronic cigarettes · Overall The effects of electronic smoking on dental caries and proinflammatory markers: a systematic review and… (2025) | Cohen's d 0.98 [-0.03, 1.99] | 11 studies | Ungraded |
Quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) vs Reference standard (bitewing radiography, ADA classification, ICDAS II) Proximal caries detection: specificity · Patients (in vivo); permanent and primary teeth, proximal (approximal) surfaces · Overall (all dentition) Diagnostic accuracy of quantitative light-induced fluorescence in detecting caries of various types and… (2025) | Specificity 0.82 | 4 studies | Ungraded |
AI algorithms (predominantly CNN/deep learning) as index test vs Dental expert / visual-tactile clinical assessment (reference standard) Positive likelihood ratio · Patients undergoing dental caries detection on dental images (teeth/surfaces across imaging modalities) · Cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy (index test vs reference standard), Overall (all imaging modalities pooled) Examining the diagnostic accuracy of artificial intelligence for detecting dental caries across a range of… (2025) | LR+ 10.443 [7.505, 14.531] | 20 studies · 29423 participants | Ungraded |