What do systematic reviews say?

Resin-modified glass ionomer fissure sealant plus oral health education vs Fluoride varnish plus oral health education

Resin-modified glass ionomer fissure sealant plus oral health… showed no clear difference in change in DMF increment on occlusal surfaces of first permanent molars compared with fluoride varnish plus oral health education; GRADE not reported.

• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  24 months · low caries risk
  MD 0.07 [-0.03, 0.17]
  1 study
  GRADE not reported
• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  24 months · high caries risk
  MD 0.23 [0.02, 0.44]
  1 study
  GRADE not reported

Resin-based fissure sealant vs Fluoride varnish

Resin-based fissure sealant led to lower change in DMFT (decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth) increment compared with fluoride varnish; GRADE not reported.

• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 years
  MD -0.08 [-0.14, -0.02]
  1 study · 542 participants
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in oral-health-related quality of life (OHIP-14) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (high certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD -0.35 [-1.02, 0.32]
  1 study · 1551 participants
  High

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: number of tooth surfaces with any caries (ICDAS 1-6) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (high certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD 0.15 [-0.77, 1.08]
  1 study · 1478 participants
  High

Resin-based fissure sealant vs Fluoride varnish

Resin-based fissure sealant led to higher number of visits to the dentist for repair of sealant or fluoride… compared with fluoride varnish; GRADE not reported.

• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes
  MD 5.02 [4.55, 5.94]
  1 study · 75 participants
  GRADE not reported

Glass ionomer or resin-modified glass ionomer fissure sealant vs Fluoride varnish

• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  1, 2 and 3 years
  SoF2: No evidence of a difference between interventions in caries after 1, 2 and 3 years; 995 (3 studies); Very low. Studies were clinically different so not combined in meta-analyses; 1 study (Tagliaferro 2011)…
  3 studies · 995 participants
  Very low

Resin-based fissure sealant plus fluoride varnish vs Fluoride varnish

It is very uncertain whether resin-based fissure sealant plus fluoride varnish changes dentine caries in permanent molars (yes/no) compared with fluoride varnish alone (very low certainty).

• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 years
  OR 0.30 [0.17, 0.55]
  1 study · 92 participants
  Very low

Resin-based fissure sealant vs Fluoride varnish

Resin-based fissure sealant led to lower change in DMFS (decayed, missing and filled permanent surfaces)… compared with fluoride varnish; GRADE not reported.

• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 years
  MD -0.09 [-0.15, -0.03]
  1 study · 542 participants
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 24-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: prevalence of root caries compared with clinical examination with 24-month recall; GRADE not reported.

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  RR 1.21 [0.72, 2.03]
  1 study · 247 participants
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with 24-month recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Clinical examination with 24-month recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: prevalence of root caries compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall; GRADE not reported.

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  RR 1.17 [0.65, 2.11]
  1 study · 238 participants
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with 24-month recall vs Clinical examination with 12-month recall

It is very uncertain whether clinical examination with 24-month recall changes dental caries: DMFS increment (permanent teeth) compared with clinical examination with 12-month recall (very low certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 years · 16-20 year olds (permanent teeth)
  MD 0.86 [-0.03, 1.75]
  1 study · 127 participants
  Very low

Orthodontic treatment need vs No orthodontic treatment need

Orthodontic treatment need was associated with modestly higher odds of poor OHRQoL (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07-1.18; 3 studies; ungraded).

• The Association of Oral Health Status, demographic characteristics and socioeconomic determinants with Oral… 2020 All outcomes

  Upper-middle-income countries (Brazil); studies 2012-2019
  OR 1.13 [1.07, 1.18]
  3 studies
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 24-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: prevalence of moderate to extensive caries (ICDAS 3-6) compared with clinical examination with 24-month recall (moderate certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  RR 1.06 [0.95, 1.19]
  1 study · 279 participants
  Moderate

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in oral health knowledge (1-9 scale) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall; GRADE not reported.

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD -0.01 [-0.03, 0.01]
  1 study · 1604 participants
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with 24-month recall vs Clinical examination with 6-month recall

Clinical examination with 24-month recall showed no clear difference in oral health knowledge (1-9 scale) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall; GRADE not reported.

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD -0.01 [-0.05, 0.03]
  1 study · 308 participants
  GRADE not reported

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 24-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: number of tooth surfaces with any caries (ICDAS 1-6) compared with clinical examination with 24-month recall (moderate certainty).

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD 1.40 [-0.69, 3.49]
  1 study · 279 participants
  Moderate

Clinical examination with risk-based recall vs Clinical examination with 24-month recall

Clinical examination with risk-based recall led to higher cost (patient perspective): total cost per patient (GBP) compared with clinical examination with 24-month recall; GRADE not reported.

• Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  MD 34.00 [9.78, 58.22]
  1 study · 375 participants
  GRADE not reported

Resin-based fissure sealant vs Fluoride varnish

It is very uncertain whether resin-based fissure sealant changes dentine caries in permanent molars (yes/no) compared with fluoride varnish (very low certainty).

• Pit and fissure sealants versus fluoride varnishes for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and… 2020 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2-3 years
  OR 0.67 [0.37, 1.19]
  4 studies · 1683 participants
  Very low

0.1% chlorine dioxide mouthwash vs Placebo mouthwash

0.1% chlorine dioxide mouthwash may leads to lower dentist-reported organoleptic test (OLT) score (scale 0 to 5) compared with placebo mouthwash (low certainty).

• Interventions for managing halitosis 2019 · Cochrane All outcomes

  mean 3 weeks
  MD -0.61 [-0.73, -0.49]
  1 study · 47 participants
  Low

Mechanical tongue cleaning (tongue scraper) vs No tongue cleaning

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Interventions for managing halitosis 2019 · Cochrane All outcomes

  mean 2 weeks
  Adverse events: listed in the Summary of findings table but no data reported. No data were reported for adverse events.
  0 studies
  No studies found