Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
SDF did not significantly differ from placebo for oral health-related quality of life in children (MD 0.03, 95% CI -0.16 to 0.22; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries experience at the surface level (dmfs/defs) · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers
Oral-health-education-only interventions did not show a statistically significant effect on surface-level caries (dmfs SMD -0.20, 95% CI -0.43 to 0.03; 2 studies; not GRADE-rated).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries development in permanent teeth · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)
Caries in the first and second primary molars is the strongest tooth-specific predictor of caries in permanent teeth (RR 3.4; single study; not GRADE-rated).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries experience · European adolescents aged 17 years
Pooled caries experience was 4.50.
1 finding from 1 review
Caries arrest · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars
Biannual SDF application significantly arrested caries (pooled ES 0.39, 95% CI 0.19-0.60; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
SDF did not significantly differ from atraumatic restorative treatment for oral health-related quality of life (MD 0.02, 95% CI -0.32 to 0.36; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries prevalence in permanent dentition · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)
A primary-dentition DMFT of 1-3 is associated with 1.5 times higher risk of caries in permanent teeth (single study; not GRADE-rated).
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries prevalence · European adolescents aged 16 years
Pooled caries prevalence was 0.83.
1 finding from 1 review
Retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) · Children with caries-free second primary molars, aged 4-8 years (dental clinic, Turkey and Spain)
1 finding from 1 review
Effect estimate not calculable; 69 (2 studies). Retention equivocal: Unal 2015 100% (fluoride resin) vs 96.0% (resin) at 12 months; Baca 2007 84.1% (fluoride resin) vs 97.7% (resin) at 12 months; at 24 months 87.8% vs…
2 studies · 69 participants
Very low
Adverse events · Children with caries-free primary first molars (with or without caries on other teeth), aged 1-5 years (paediatric clinic/dental school,…
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs563135 (10:115067899; nearest gene(s) TCF7L2, CASP7) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)
The common variant rs563135 near TCF7L2, CASP7 showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = -4.532, p = 5.86e-6); genetic association, ungraded.
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries prevalence · European adolescents aged 16 years
Pooled caries prevalence was 0.94.
1 finding from 1 review
Enamel caries proportion · European adolescents aged 18 years
Pooled enamel caries proportion was 0.29 (I² = 99.3%).
1 finding from 1 review
Enamel caries proportion · European adolescents aged 12–19 years
Enamel caries made up about half of total caries experience (pooled proportion 0.50, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.65; 7 studies; higher in 12–15 than 16–19-year-olds; not GRADE-rated).
3 findings from 1 review
Proportion 0.50 [0.39, 0.65]
7 studies · 7056 participants
GRADE not reported
Proportion 0.37 [0.24, 0.56]
3 studies
GRADE not reported
Proportion 0.56 [0.42, 0.76]
8 studies
GRADE not reported
Progression of non-cavitated enamel caries · Children with caries-free second primary molars, aged 4-8 years (dental clinic, Turkey and Spain)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse events · Children with sound primary molars, aged 2-4 years (municipal dental clinics or hospital paediatric clinics, Denmark)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Caries experience at the surface level (dmfs/defs) · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers
Behaviour change interventions delivered by non-dental health workers produced a small, statistically significant reduction in caries experience at the surface level (dmfs SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.25 to -0.04; 12 studies); the review judged the overall evidence to be of low quality (not GRADE-rated).
1 finding from 1 review
Retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) · Children with caries-free primary first molars (with or without caries on other teeth), aged 1-5 years (paediatric clinic/dental school,…
1 finding from 1 review
Chadwick 2005: one or more sealants fully/partially retained in 69 (31.2%) children at 12-30 months; Joshi 2019: at 12 months 75 (43.6%) teeth completely retained, 58 (33.7%) partially retained, 39 (22.7%) completely…
2 studies
GRADE not reported
Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs1044956 (7:24854765; nearest gene(s) OSBPL3, NPVF) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)
The common variant rs1044956 near OSBPL3, NPVF showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = 4.551, p = 5.35e-6); genetic association, ungraded.
2 findings from 1 review
Retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) · Children with sound primary molars, aged 2-4 years (municipal dental clinics or hospital paediatric clinics, Denmark)
It is very uncertain whether autopolymerised sealant changes retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) compared with light polymerised sealant (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review