Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

624 questions · 782 findings · 62 reviews

No studies found 13 · 1.7%GRADE not reported 657 · 84%Very low 76 · 9.7%Low 23 · 2.9%Moderate 13 · 1.7%High 0 · 0%

Microinvasive techniques (resin infiltration, resin/GIC sealant, or glass ionomer varnish) vs Non-invasive measures (fluoride varnish/toothpaste, flossing, oral hygiene instruction, sham/standard of care)

Adverse events and periodontal/secondary outcomes (gingival bleeding, gingival bleeding index, visible plaque index) · Children and adults with non-cavitated proximal (interproximal) caries lesions in primary and/or permanent teeth (ages 3-45)

Only three trials reported secondary/adverse outcomes; no adverse events were attributed to microinvasive treatment and periodontal findings were mixed and not pooled (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Resin infiltration vs Non-invasive measures (fluoride varnish/toothpaste, flossing, oral hygiene instruction, sham/standard of care)

Radiographic proximal caries lesion progression · Children and adults with non-cavitated proximal (interproximal) caries lesions in primary and/or permanent teeth (ages 3-45)

Pooling 10 trials, resin infiltration reduced radiographic proximal caries progression versus non-invasive measures (OR 0.23); this subgroup was not separately GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) · Humans who use e-cigarettes (mostly adults, often with periodontal disease) assessed for oral proinflammatory markers

Meta-analysis suggests no significant effect of e-cigarette use on the salivary level of Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) (7 studies), though heterogeneity was high (I2=95%) and the pooled estimate appears only in Figure 3E (unavailable); GCF data were limited (2 study(ies)) (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Postbiotics from Lactobacillus spp. (cell-free supernatants, biosurfactants, lipoteichoic acid, bacterial lysates) vs No prior SDF application (untreated dentin control)

Proposed inhibition of S. mutans adhesion to tooth surface (mechanism; direct adherence endpoint confirmed only in Ahn 2018) · Cariogenic bacteria (mainly Streptococcus mutans reference strains) and oral biofilms in vitro

Postbiotics inhibit S. mutans adhesion to tooth surfaces in vitro (ungraded narrative synthesis).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Postbiotics and Dental Caries: A Systematic Review. 2025 All outcomes
    Exposure 24 h to 7 days · Laboratory (in vitro)
    Postbiotics (mainly biosurfactants and lipoteichoic acid) interfered with S. mutans adhesion to tooth/hydroxyapatite surfaces in 5 in vitro studies; no pooled estimate.
    5 studies
    GRADE not reported

Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers

Combined salivary IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α levels · Humans who use e-cigarettes (mostly adults, often with periodontal disease) assessed for oral proinflammatory markers

Combining all four salivary cytokines, the meta-analysis found no effect of e-cigarette use on salivary proinflammatory marker levels (low between-marker heterogeneity, I2=31%); the pooled estimate appears only in Figure 3F (unavailable) and is ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) · Humans who use e-cigarettes (mostly adults, often with periodontal disease) assessed for oral proinflammatory markers

Meta-analysis suggests no significant effect of e-cigarette use on the salivary level of Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) (11 studies), though heterogeneity was high (I2=97%) and the pooled estimate appears only in Figure 3B (unavailable); GCF data were limited (2 study(ies)) (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

E-cigarette aerosol / e-liquid exposure (flavored and unflavored; nicotine and non-nicotine) vs Unexposed controls / unflavored e-liquid / conventional cigarette smoke

Enamel/dental hard-tissue changes and e-liquid cariogenic properties (demineralization, colour change, pH, sugar content, metals) · Oral bacteria (streptococci), dental hard tissue (enamel/dentin) and e-liquids studied in vitro/ex vivo (with a few clinical microbiome…

In vitro evidence suggests e-liquids are often acidic and sugar-containing and can alter enamel/dentin colour and properties, supporting a plausible cariogenic effect, but findings are heterogeneous and not pooled (ungraded, narrative).

1 finding from 1 review

Postbiotics from Lactobacillus spp. (cell-free supernatants, biosurfactants, lipoteichoic acid, bacterial lysates) vs No prior SDF application (untreated dentin control)

Reduced enamel demineralization · Cariogenic bacteria (mainly Streptococcus mutans reference strains) and oral biofilms in vitro

A single in vitro study found postbiotics reduce enamel demineralization (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Postbiotics and Dental Caries: A Systematic Review. 2025 All outcomes
    Exposure 24 h to 7 days · Laboratory (in vitro)
    One in vitro multispecies-biofilm study reported that a postbiotic (L. reuteri cell-free supernatant) reduced enamel demineralization, indicating a protective effect against caries; no pooled estimate.
    1 study
    GRADE not reported

Microinvasive techniques (resin infiltration or glass ionomer varnish) vs Non-invasive measures (fluoride varnish/toothpaste, flossing, oral hygiene instruction, sham/standard of care)

Radiographic proximal caries lesion progression · Children with non-cavitated proximal caries lesions in primary teeth (ages 3-9)

In primary teeth (5 trials), microinvasive techniques reduced radiographic proximal caries progression versus non-invasive measures (OR 0.38; ungraded subgroup).

1 finding from 1 review

Co-presence of Veillonella spp. with Streptococcus mutans vs Streptococcus mutans acidogenesis without Veillonella spp. modulation (conceptual)

Streptococcus mutans acid (lactic acid) production and cariogenic potential · Oral biofilm of children/individuals at risk of dental caries

The review concludes that Veillonella spp. may modulate (often inhibit) S. mutans acid production and compete for lactate substrate, potentially reducing cariogenesis, but the evidence is narrative and ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Microinvasive techniques (mostly resin infiltration; incl. resin sealant) vs Non-invasive measures (fluoride varnish/toothpaste, flossing, oral hygiene instruction, sham/standard of care)

Radiographic proximal caries lesion progression · Children and adults with non-cavitated proximal caries lesions in permanent teeth (ages 11-45)

In permanent teeth (7 trials), microinvasive techniques reduced radiographic proximal caries progression versus non-invasive measures (OR 0.18; ungraded subgroup).

1 finding from 1 review

Microinvasive techniques (resin infiltration, resin/GIC sealant, or glass ionomer varnish) vs Non-invasive measures (fluoride varnish/toothpaste, flossing, oral hygiene instruction, sham/standard of care)

Radiographic proximal caries lesion progression · Children and adults with non-cavitated proximal (interproximal) caries lesions in primary and/or permanent teeth (ages 3-45)

Microinvasive techniques probably reduce radiographic progression of non-cavitated proximal caries lesions compared with non-invasive measures (moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride varnish vs Placebo varnish, resin sealant, or standard care (oral hygiene instructions)

Prevalence of white spot lesions (WSL) at debonding, subject level · Healthy adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment with fixed multi-bracket appliances

Fluoride varnish applied regularly during fixed orthodontic treatment may reduce the prevalence of white spot lesions at debonding (pooled RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.98), but the certainty of evidence is very low.

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride varnish vs Placebo varnish, resin sealant, or standard care (oral hygiene instructions)

White spot lesion clinical score (mean values), subject level · Healthy adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment with fixed multi-bracket appliances

In a pooled analysis of two placebo-controlled trials, fluoride varnish also reduced white spot lesion clinical scores (pooled SMD -0.44, 95% CI -0.64 to -0.24); this secondary outcome was not separately GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

OHI + 38% SDF (applied every 12 months) vs oral health instruction plus water

new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries

SDF had a 28% preventative fraction at 24 months; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) dentifrice/paste (fluoride-free or fluoridated) vs nHA-free / fluoride-free (negative) control

Mineral loss (transversal microradiography) · Enamel/dentin specimens with initial caries lesions (or sound surfaces) in intraoral (in situ) appliances worn by patients

Under remineralizing conditions, nHA produced significantly more remineralization than the negative control (MD 350, 95% CI 179 to 521; very low certainty).

2 findings from 1 review

Machine-learning algorithms for dental caries detection vs Different machine-learning algorithms compared with one another / against the reference caries diagnosis

Diagnostic accuracy for root caries detection · Dental radiographic/intraoral images of human teeth (X-ray and photographic)

One study reported machine-learning accuracy for root caries detection (97.1%, support vector machine); not pooled and not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride-free nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) dentifrice/paste vs Sodium fluoride (control) toothpaste

Mineral loss (transversal microradiography) · Enamel/dentin specimens with initial caries lesions (or sound surfaces) in intraoral (in situ) appliances worn by patients

Under demineralizing conditions, nHA allowed significantly more enamel demineralization than NaF (MD 1625, 95% CI 553 to 2697; very low certainty).

2 findings from 1 review

Study-specific random forest classifier vs Caries versus healthy disease-state labels

Study-specific disease-state discrimination · Oral microbiome samples in 15 case-controlled studies

Bong-Soo 2017, Zhu 2018, and Jiang 2019 had mean AUC scores over 0.75; exact study-specific AUCs were not reported in text or readable figure labels.

1 finding from 1 review