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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,745 questions · 4,389 findings · 203 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 39 · 0.9%GRADE not reported 3,844 · 87.6%Very low 198 · 4.5%Low 137 · 3.1%Moderate 134 · 3.1%High 37 · 0.8%

Gamified oral health interventions (mobile apps, serious games, augmented reality, game-based education) vs Conventional or traditional oral health education, or non-gamified interventions (comparator varied; several studies were single-arm/uncontrolled)

Oral health knowledge (1-9 scale) · Children or adolescents

Gamified interventions appear to improve children's oral health knowledge compared with conventional education, but the evidence is narrative and ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • The Application of Gamification in Children's Oral Health Management: Systematic Review. 2025 All outcomes
    Post-intervention (predominantly short-term; long-term follow-up in a minority of studies) · School-based settings, specialized dental clinics, and home-based environments
    The effectiveness of digital-based interventions was generally positive, with 38% (9/24) of the experimental studies reporting improvements in oral health knowledge and behaviors; game-based teaching significantly…
    9 studies
    GRADE not reported

Timing of first dental visit vs Reference visit timing

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

An early first dental visit was associated with much lower odds of ECC (OR 0.042).

2 findings from 1 review

Electronic cigarette use vs Traditional (conventional) cigarette smokers

Plaque index / periodontal health (relative harm vs conventional smoking) · Adult e-cigarette (ENDS) users (general oral health)

E-cigarette users tend to have a lower plaque index and less periodontal harm than traditional cigarette smokers, although still worse than non-smokers (narrative synthesis; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Flavonoids (e.g., quercetin, proanthocyanidin) vs Calcium phosphate agent (e.g., CPP-ACP, Ca/P-PILP, niobophosphate)

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

In the Etch-and-Rinse adhesive + biological ACAD protocol network, Flavonoids showed 12.771 MPa lower 24 h bond strength than Calcium Phosphate (MD -12.771, 95% CI -20.538 to -5.003; Moderate certainty).

2 findings from 1 review

Genetically predicted periodontitis vs Lower genetically predicted periodontitis liability

Osteoporosis · European-ancestry adults

Genetically predicted periodontitis had no causal effect on osteoporosis (multivariable MR, OR 1.000).

2 findings from 1 review

Partial pulpotomy vs Full (complete) pulpotomy

Postoperative analgesic use · Mature permanent (molar) teeth with deep caries and symptoms indicative of irreversible pulpitis (spontaneous pain)

Postoperative analgesic use was similar or lower with full pulpotomy; one RCT reported significantly less analgesic use after full pulpotomy (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

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

Mean DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) · Adults with epilepsy

In adults, epilepsy is associated with a significantly higher DMFT than controls (SMD 0.548, P < .001; ungraded subgroup analysis).

1 finding from 1 review

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

Proper anatomic form · Children receiving dental restorations (aged 4-11 years; primary teeth; Class I/II/V cavities)

No significant difference between IRR and CR in anatomic form (high certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Pulp and periapical diseases vs Without pulp and periapical diseases

Lacunar stroke · adults

No eligible studies were found for the association between pulp and periapical diseases and lacunar stroke in the meta-analysis.

1 finding from 1 review

Anorexia nervosa (as exposure; diagnosed by DSM-III/III-R/IV/V) vs Healthy controls

Salivary flow rate (stimulated) · Patients with anorexia nervosa aged >=12 years (mean age ~18.4; entirely female in reported data), general community-dwelling population

Stimulated salivary flow rate was significantly lower in anorexia nervosa patients than controls, but only unstimulated flow was meta-analyzed; this outcome is ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review