Findings

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

96 questions · 190 findings · 27 reviews

No studies found 5 · 2.6%GRADE not reported 176 · 92.6%Very low 8 · 4.2%Low 1 · 0.5%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

Western/Northern Europe (UN M49 region) vs Eastern/Southern Europe (UN M49 geographical categorization)

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

Mean DMFT is lowest in West Europe (0.88) and North Europe (1.34) and highest in East Europe (2.76) and South Europe (2.61) (Figure 3); not GRADE-rated.

4 findings from 1 review
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Higher national income (GNI per capita) vs Lower national income (GNI categories: middle <=$15,000 / high $15,001-25,000 / very high >$25,000)

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

Mean DMFT in 12-year-olds rises as national income falls: 0.90 (very high income), 2.38 (high income), 3.30 (middle income) (Figure 2); not GRADE-rated.

3 findings from 1 review

Very high Human Development Index (HDI >=0.800) vs High Human Development Index (HDI 0.700-0.799)

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

Mean DMFT was higher in high-HDI (3.41) than very-high-HDI (1.73) countries (ANOVA p<.01); descriptive country-level means only, not meta-analyzed or GRADE-rated.

2 findings from 1 review

All European countries pooled (overall) vs None (overall pooled prevalence)

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

Across European countries the overall pooled mean DMFT in 12-year-olds was 2.10 (95% CI 1.63 to 2.57), with very high between-country heterogeneity (I2=100%); not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Early childhood caries experience (mean dmft) · Children younger than 71 months (under 6 years)

Mean dmft was lowest (1.62 teeth) in low-inequality countries by Gini index.

16 findings from 1 review
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High-frequency sugar consumption (three or more times daily) vs Low sugar intake (fewer than three times daily)

Early childhood caries experience (mean dmft) · Nigerian children with primary dentition (approximately 6 months to 5 years)

In primary dentition, high-frequency sugar consumption was associated with slightly higher, non-significant odds of caries (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.23 to 5.44), with high heterogeneity (I2=83%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children in primary dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Overweight may make little or no difference to caries experience (dmft) in the primary dentition of Brazilian children (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children/adolescents in permanent dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Overweight may make little or no difference to caries experience (DMFT) in the permanent dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Institutionalization (living in an orphanage/institution) vs Parented children living with their families

Mean DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) · Institutionalized orphan children (roughly 3 to 18 years)

Permanent-teeth caries experience (DMF) was marginally higher in institutionalized children but essentially similar to parented children (pooled MD 0.09, not significant; very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Obesity (Unclassified) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children in primary dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Obesity may make little or no difference to caries experience (dmft) in the primary dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

High-frequency sugar consumption (three or more times daily) vs Low sugar intake (fewer than three times daily)

Dental caries in permanent teeth · Nigerian individuals with permanent dentition (approximately 12 years and older)

In permanent dentition, high-frequency sugar consumption was associated with non-significant 15% higher odds of caries (OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.52), with no heterogeneity (I2=0%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Obesity (Unclassified) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Caries experience (mean DMFT) · Brazilian children/adolescents in permanent dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

Normal-weight adolescents may have higher caries experience (DMFT) than obese peers in the permanent dentition, but the evidence is very uncertain (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Institutionalization (living in an orphanage/institution) vs Parented children living with their families

Caries in primary teeth: dmft (3 years) · Institutionalized orphan children (roughly 3 to 18 years)

Primary-teeth caries experience (dmf) was higher in institutionalized children than parented children but not significantly so (pooled MD 0.64; very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

High-frequency sugar consumption (three or more times daily) vs Low sugar intake (fewer than three times daily)

Dental caries prevalence · Nigerian individuals, including children and adults, with primary or permanent dentition

High-frequency sugar consumption was associated with 18% higher but non-significant odds of dental caries in Nigeria (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.59; I2=36%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Growth stunting (linear growth retardation, low height-for-age) vs Children without growth stunting (normal height-for-age)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children aged ≤6 years (early childhood)

One Nigerian cross-sectional study reported a significant adjusted association between nutritional (stunting) status and ECC (APR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03-0.69); ungraded.

4 findings from 1 review
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Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) vs No cleft lip and/or palate (non-CL/P)

Early childhood caries experience (mean dmft) · Children in the primary dentition with non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) and comparable children without CL/P

In the combined primary and mixed dentition, there was no evidence of a difference in caries experience between children with and without CL/P (SMD 0.09, 95% CI -0.59-0.76; 5 studies; ungraded).

4 findings from 1 review
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