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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

1,378 questions · 2,146 findings · 145 reviews

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No studies found 167 · 7.8%GRADE not reported 1,674 · 78%Very low 148 · 6.9%Low 113 · 5.3%Moderate 40 · 1.9%High 4 · 0.2%

School-based supervised toothbrushing (STB) vs no intervention

Caries increment on tooth surfaces (dmfs/DMFS) (prevented fraction) · Children in school or kindergarten settings (aged 3-14 years)

School-based supervised toothbrushing produces a small but statistically significant reduction in tooth-surface caries (DMFS/dmfs SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.42 to -0.01; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy, >=3 drugs) vs HIV-positive not receiving HAART (standard ART or HAART-naive)

Dental caries in permanent teeth · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

Among HIV+ children, HAART was associated with a significantly higher DMFT index than no HAART in case-control studies (MD 2.02, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.80; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

School-based supervised toothbrushing (STB) vs no intervention

Dental caries increment, DMFT/dmft (whole-tooth level) · Children in school or kindergarten settings (aged 3-14 years)

School-based supervised toothbrushing has no statistically significant effect on whole-tooth caries (DMFT/dmft SMD 0.05, 95% CI -0.27 to 0.37; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy (HI) vs HIV-unexposed uninfected children (HUU)

Dental caries · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

HIV-infected children on ART had higher odds of dental caries than HUU children in case-control studies (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.56; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy, >=3 drugs) vs HIV-positive not receiving HAART (standard ART or HAART-naive)

Caries in primary teeth: dmft (3 years) · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

Among HIV+ children, HAART versus no HAART showed no significant difference in the dmft index in case-control studies (MD 0.66, 95% CI -0.26 to 1.58; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Living with HIV and undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART/HAART) vs HIV-negative individuals

Dental caries (by severity) · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

In cross-sectional studies, HIV+ children on ART had a significantly higher DMFS index than HIV-negative peers (MD 2.00, 95% CI 1.54 to 2.46; not separately GRADE-rated).

2 findings from 1 review

Prenatal vitamin D level ≤50 nmol/L vs Adequate prenatal vitamin D (sufficient maternal 25(OH)D)

Dental caries · Children aged 2 to 8 years

The review reported a lower odds ratio at maternal prenatal vitamin D ≤50 nmol/L than at ≤35 nmol/L, without a numeric value in the available sources.

1 finding from 1 review

ADGRL2 gene (aggregate gene-based signal, MAGMA) vs Genome-wide gene background (FDR threshold)

Dental caries (self-reported history) · Japanese adults (present-study direct-to-consumer genetic testing cohort); self-reported disease cases vs controls

Gene-based analysis found ADGRL2 significantly associated with dental caries (FDR q<0.05); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies two novel loci associated with dental caries. 2024 All outcomes
    Lifelong (germline genotype) · Population-based genetic association study (Japanese direct-to-consumer genetic testing cohort) · MAGMA gene-based test (present study)
    Gene-based association analysis (MAGMA): ADGRL2 was the only gene associated with dental caries at false-discovery-rate q<0.05 (no effect size reported).
    1 study · 45525 participants
    GRADE not reported

Acidic bacillary pH on teeth vs Non-acidic bacillary pH

Dental caries · Primary school children in Ethiopia

Acidic bacillary pH on the teeth was associated with higher odds of dental caries (OR 2.42, 95% CI 1.494-3.335; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Poor / no tooth brushing habit vs Good tooth brushing habit

Dental caries · Primary school children in Ethiopia

A poor tooth-cleaning habit was associated with higher odds of dental caries (OR 3.90, 95% CI 2.761-5.045; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight/obesity (combined) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Dental caries prevalence · Brazilian children/adolescents in permanent dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of overweight/obesity on caries odds in the permanent dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Dental caries prevalence · Primary school children in Ethiopia

Among studies using systematic random sampling, the pooled prevalence of dental caries was 35% (ungraded; CI not reported).

4 findings from 1 review
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Highest BMI category (overweight/obese) vs Lowest BMI category (normal weight/underweight)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children (approx. 4-18 years)

In the Region: Asian countries subgroup, the BMI (highest vs lowest)-childhood caries association was significant (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.32; ungraded).

17 findings from 1 review
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Periodontitis vs No periodontitis (periodontal health or gingivitis)

Dental caries prevalence · adults

With a non-standard periodontitis definition, the association persisted (OR 1.38).

12 findings from 1 review
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Prenatal vitamin D deficiency (low maternal 25(OH)D during pregnancy) vs Adequate prenatal vitamin D (sufficient maternal 25(OH)D)

Dental caries prevalence · Children aged 2 to 8 years

The review reported 44% dental caries prevalence among children of mothers with low prenatal vitamin D.

2 findings from 1 review

Prenatal vitamin D deficiency (low maternal 25(OH)D during pregnancy) vs Adequate prenatal vitamin D (sufficient maternal 25(OH)D)

Dental caries in children · Infants and children (aged about 2 to 8 years) whose mothers' vitamin D status was assessed during pregnancy

For prenatal vitamin D measured across gestational weeks 6-38, the OR of dental caries was 1.32 (no CI reported); ungraded.

3 findings from 1 review

Significant salivary microbial (Lactobacillus) load vs No/low significant microbial load

Dental caries · Primary school children in Ethiopia

A significant salivary microbial (Lactobacillus) load was associated with higher odds of dental caries (OR 3.82, 95% CI 3.439-4.192; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

High-frequency sugar consumption (three or more times daily) vs Low sugar intake (fewer than three times daily)

Early childhood caries experience (mean dmft) · Nigerian children with primary dentition (approximately 6 months to 5 years)

In primary dentition, high-frequency sugar consumption was associated with slightly higher, non-significant odds of caries (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.23 to 5.44), with high heterogeneity (I2=83%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Prenatal vitamin D deficiency (low maternal 25(OH)D during pregnancy) vs Adequate prenatal vitamin D (sufficient maternal 25(OH)D)

Dental caries · Children aged 2 to 8 years

The review reported an OR of 1.32 when prenatal vitamin D was measured at 6 to 38 gestational weeks.

2 findings from 1 review