Dental caries · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…
Package of oral health education/promotion including oral hygiene… showed no clear difference in dmfs index score compared with standard care (low certainty).
2 findings from 1 review
Child dental attendance · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…
1 finding from 1 review
Plutzer 2008 reported dental attendance as cumulative child-visit categories (other data): intervention children more likely to have 1-2 visits, no difference for 3-4 visits, less likely for >=5 visits.
1 study
GRADE not reported
Adverse events for mother or child · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…
1 finding from 1 review
Child plaque (any plaque visible on any teeth) · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…
Package of oral health education/promotion including oral hygiene… led to lower child plaque (any plaque visible on any teeth) compared with standard care; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
d1-4 efs · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…
1 finding from 1 review
Child microbiological presence (any mutans streptococci colonisation) · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…
Package of oral health education/promotion including oral hygiene… showed no clear difference in child microbiological presence (mutans streptococci colonisation) compared with standard care; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Yu 2021: MS colonisation level (CFU x10^4) lower with intervention at 2 yrs (MD -2.80) and 3 yrs (MD -15, 95% CI -27.75 to -2.25) but not 1 yr (MD -0.20, 95% CI -0.50 to 0.10); MS-to-total-bacteria ratio lower at 1 yr…
1 study
GRADE not reported
SiC30 index score · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…
Package of oral health education/promotion including oral hygiene… led to lower siC30 index score compared with standard care; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Mother microbiological presence (high-level mutans streptococci / lactobacilli) · For interventions, pregnant women and mothers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years of age
Oral health education/promotion (oral hygiene advice plus diet and… showed no clear difference in mother microbiological presence (high-level mutans streptococci /… compared with standard care; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries · For interventions, pregnant women and mothers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years of age
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
2 findings from 1 review
dmfs was listed in the SoF table but not assessed (not reported for this comparison).
0 studies
No studies found
The mean dmft index score was 0.52 (standard care) versus 0 (advice + treatment group); relative effect not estimable; 50 participants (1 study); very low-certainty evidence.
1 study · 50 participants
Very low
Caries presence in primary teeth · For interventions, pregnant women and mothers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years of age
It is very uncertain whether oral health education/promotion (oral hygiene advice plus diet and… changes caries presence in primary teeth compared with standard care (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Negative oral-health impact on daily performance (OIDP or Child-OIDP) · Adolescents (10-19 years)
In the Child-OIDP subgroup, dental caries is associated with a worse oral-health impact: PR 1.66 (95% CI 1.19 to 2.31) from 6 studies (I2=96%); ungraded, and not statistically different from the OIDP subgroup (p=0.96).
5 findings from 1 review
Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesCross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Instrument subgroup: Child-OIDP
PR 1.66 [1.19, 2.31]
6 studies
GRADE not reported
Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesCross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Instrument subgroup: OIDP (all 3 studies)
PR 1.68 [0.89, 3.17]
3 studies
GRADE not reported
Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesCross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Instrument subgroup: OIDP, sensitivity analysis excluding Krisdapong et al.
PR 1.21 [1.15, 1.28]
2 studies
GRADE not reported
Show 2 more findings
Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesCross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Overall (all meta-analyzed studies pooled; both instruments and both caries definitions)
PR 1.52 [1.15, 2.01]
9 studies
GRADE not reported
Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesCross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Caries-definition subgroup: presence of dental caries
PR 1.19 [0.77, 1.84]
3 studies
GRADE not reported
Risk of femoral fractures · general population
Femoral-fracture risk was mildly U-shaped: RR 0.86 at 0.5 mg/L rising to 1.06 at 1.8 mg/L drinking-water fluoride vs null; risk mostly below null across the range; ungraded.
2 findings from 1 review
The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesLong-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 · Drinking-water fluoride 1.8 mg/L vs null
RR 1.06 [0.67, 1.69]
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesLong-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 · Drinking-water fluoride 0.5 mg/L vs null
RR 0.86 [0.71, 1.05]
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
Oral health-related quality of life · Patients with deep caries lesions in mature or immature permanent (posterior) teeth, with no symptoms or reversible pulpitis
No included study reported oral health-related quality of life (a planned outcome), so no evidence is available.
1 finding from 1 review
no estimate extracted
0 studies
No studies found
Improved caries prognosis via restored oral microbiota · Patients after dental filling
Adjuvant postbiotics after dental filling improve caries prognosis by restoring the oral microbiota in one RCT (ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Femoral neck bone mineral density (FN-BMD) · European-ancestry adults
Genetically predicted periodontitis had no causal effect on femoral neck BMD.
1 finding from 1 review
Femoral neck bone mineral density (FN-BMD) · European-ancestry adults
Genetically predicted dental caries (DMFS) had no causal effect on femoral neck BMD.
1 finding from 1 review
Hip/femoral bone mineral density (BMD) · general population
Hip BMD increased with fluoride in both sexes (linearly in males, non-linearly above ~1.2 mg/L in females); no numeric MD reported in text for the main analysis; ungraded.
1 finding from 1 review
Hip/femoral bone mineral density (BMD) · Females (all ages)
In females (low-to-moderate risk-of-bias studies), hip BMD rose monotonically above ~0.9 mg/L: MD 0.04 g/cm2 (95% CI -0.03-0.12) up to ~2.3 mg/L and 0.09 (-0.09-0.27) at 4.0 mg/L vs null; ungraded.
2 findings from 1 review
The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesLong-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 · Females, low-to-moderate risk-of-bias studies: up to ~2.3 mg/L vs null
MD 0.04 [-0.03, 0.12]
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomesLong-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 · Females, low-to-moderate risk-of-bias studies: 4.0 mg/L vs null
MD 0.09 [-0.09, 0.27]
Studies not reported
GRADE not reported
Caries prognosis and oral-microbiota diversity structure and function · Patients after dental filling
No meta-analysis was conducted; postbiotic tablets were reported to improve caries prognosis and restore oral-microbiota diversity structure and function.
1 finding from 1 review
no estimate extracted
1 study
GRADE not reported
Oral microbial community composition and diversity (other caries-associated taxa; alpha- and beta-diversity) · Systemically healthy individuals (children and adults, aged 40 months to 50 years) assessed for dental caries
No oral microbial taxon other than S. mutans was consistently associated with caries; alpha-diversity mostly did not differ between caries-active and caries-free groups and beta-diversity findings were mixed (ungraded, narrative).
1 finding from 1 review