evidencegaps
Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

Refine by population, intervention, comparison or outcome
More filters
Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,066 questions · 3,346 findings · 178 reviews · Dental caries

Sort:Best matchNewestHighest certaintyDownload CSV
No studies found 48 · 1.4%GRADE not reported 2,789 · 83.4%Very low 208 · 6.2%Low 129 · 3.9%Moderate 136 · 4.1%High 36 · 1.1%

Higher per-capita expenditure on dental health care vs Lower per-capita expenditure on dental health care (USD bands: $0-50 / $51-100 / >$100)

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · 12-year-old children across European countries (national/regional epidemiological surveys, 2011-2022)

Countries with higher per-capita dental expenditure had lower mean DMFT (>$100: 0.96; $51-100: 2.14; $0-50: 3.06) (Figure 4); not GRADE-rated.

3 findings from 1 review

Mesoporous silica (SiO2) vs Calcium-based agent

Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro)

In the Self-Etch adhesive + chemical ACAD protocol network, Silica vs Calcium showed no significant difference in 24 h bond strength (MD 1.964, 95% CI -5.802 to 9.730; Moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Composite resin vs Amalgam restoration

Restoration failure · Permanent posterior teeth (molars/premolars) receiving direct restoration

There was no statistically significant difference in failure risk between composite resin and amalgam restorations in permanent posterior teeth (pooled RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.34; 13 studies; not GRADE-rated, with very high heterogeneity, I2 = 97%).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride mouthrinse (0.05-0.32% sodium fluoride or amine fluoride) added to daily fluoride toothpaste vs Control: fluoride toothpaste alone, placebo mouthrinse + toothpaste, or non-fluoride (chlorhexidine) mouthrinse + toothpaste

Incidence of initial caries around brackets, aesthetic-zone teeth only · Orthodontic patients (any age) undergoing orthodontic treatment (mostly fixed appliances)

When only aesthetic-zone teeth (incisors and canines) were considered, two studies reported a significant reduction in initial caries incidence favoring fluoride mouthrinse (ungraded, narrative; no pooled estimate).

1 finding from 1 review

Epilepsy (as exposure/condition) vs Healthy participants without epilepsy (control group)

Caries in primary teeth: dmft (3 years) · Children and adolescents with epilepsy

In children/adolescents, the dmft (primary teeth) index does not differ significantly with epilepsy (SMD 0.132, 95% CI -0.220 to 0.484, P = .463; ungraded subgroup).

1 finding from 1 review

Higher parental education (tertiary) vs Lower parental education (reference)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa

Paternal tertiary education was associated with lower odds of ECC (OR 0.381).

3 findings from 1 review

Secondary (passive/secondhand) smoking exposure during childhood vs No secondary smoking exposure

Caries prevalence (early childhood caries) · Preschool children aged <=71 months (caries outcome assessed at 3-6 years)

Preschool children exposed to secondary smoking have higher odds of caries prevalence (OR 1.77), but the cross-sectional evidence is very uncertain (very low certainty).

2 findings from 1 review

Partial pulpotomy with tri-calcium silicate material (MTA or Biodentine) vs No comparator

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Adults aged 18 years or older with mature permanent teeth and carious pulp exposure

Partial pulpotomy with MTA or Biodentine had a pooled success rate of 86.8%.

1 finding from 1 review

All dental health care expenditure strata vs No comparator

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · 12-year-old children across European countries (national/regional epidemiological surveys, 2011-2022)

The overall pooled mean DMFT was 2.10 across all dental health care expenditure strata.

1 finding from 1 review

Brushing vs Brushing less than daily

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa

Brushing twice daily was associated with lower odds of ECC (OR 0.033).

2 findings from 1 review

Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference)

Lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) · general population

Spine BMD showed an inverted U-shaped association with fluoride (peak ~0.6 mg/L); excluding high risk-of-bias studies gave small positive MDs (e.g., 0.05 g/cm2, 95% CI 0.01-0.10, up to 2.27 mg/L); ungraded.

4 findings from 1 review
  • The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure · General population; 37 observational studies (1944-2024), predominantly North America (USA, Canada) and Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden), plus UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Ethiopia; exposure mainly community drinking-water fluoride · Sensitivity (excluding high risk-of-bias studies): 1.27 to 2.27 mg/L vs null
    MD 0.05 [0.01, 0.10]
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported
  • The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure · General population; 37 observational studies (1944-2024), predominantly North America (USA, Canada) and Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden), plus UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Ethiopia; exposure mainly community drinking-water fluoride · Sensitivity (excluding high risk-of-bias studies): 0.60 mg/L vs null
    MD 0.06 [-0.02, 0.13]
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported
  • The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure · General population; 37 observational studies (1944-2024), predominantly North America (USA, Canada) and Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden), plus UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Ethiopia; exposure mainly community drinking-water fluoride · Both sexes, main dose-response
    Inverted U-shaped association in both males and females, highest value around 0.6 mg/L (no numeric MD reported in text for main analysis)
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported
Show 1 more finding
  • The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure · General population; 37 observational studies (1944-2024), predominantly North America (USA, Canada) and Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden), plus UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Ethiopia; exposure mainly community drinking-water fluoride · Sensitivity (excluding high risk-of-bias studies): above 2.27 mg/L vs null
    MD 0.04 [-0.21, 0.30]
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Higher national income (GNI per capita) vs Lower national income (GNI categories: middle <=$15,000 / high $15,001-25,000 / very high >$25,000)

Odds of higher caries (DMFT) category · 12-year-old children across European countries (national/regional epidemiological surveys, 2011-2022)

Higher national income was strongly associated with lower odds of poor oral health (OR 0.10, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.37; about 90% lower odds); not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 8: disruption of occlusal integrity

The intervention led to lower composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 8:…; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 1: partial loss or fracture of the restoration

The intervention led to lower composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 1:…; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Theory-based oral health education/promotion interventions (HBM, TPB, SCT, HAPA, TTM, PMT, SOC, PRECEDE-PROCEED, MI) vs Control (waitlist, routine/standard oral health education, or minimal intervention)

Oral health attitudes (1-7 scale) · school‐age children and adolescents

Theory-based interventions significantly improved oral health attitude (SMD 9.32; low certainty); the very large effect warrants cautious interpretation.

1 finding from 1 review

Sugar consumption (higher sugar intake) vs No sugar consumption (lower/no intake)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Preschool children (<6 years)

Higher sugar consumption is associated with early childhood caries in children under 6 years: pooled OR 1.59 (95% CI 1.50 to 1.68) from 9 cohort studies with no heterogeneity (I2=0%); the body of evidence was not GRADE-rated (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

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

In vivo, QLF pooled specificity for proximal caries in permanent teeth was 0.81 (3 studies; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

Ion-releasing restorations (IRR): RMGIC, HVGIC, GIC, compomer/PMRC, giomer vs Composite resin (CR), including bulk-fill composite

Integrity of contact point · Children receiving dental restorations (aged 4-11 years; primary teeth; Class I/II/V cavities)

No significant difference between IRR and CR in integrity of contact point (high certainty).

1 finding from 1 review