Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

72 questions · 169 findings · 8 reviews · Dental caries

No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 169 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

Systemic sclerosis (SSc / scleroderma) vs SSc-free individuals (controls)

Maximal mouth opening (interincisal distance) · Adults (general and hospital populations assessed in case-control studies)

Systemic sclerosis patients have significantly reduced mouth opening compared with controls (SMD -1.06); certainty ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Preformed metal crown (PMC) vs Resin-modified glass-ionomer cement + composite resin (modified open-sandwich restoration)

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with carious primary molars treated by pulpotomy (vital pulp therapy)

Preformed metal crowns had a low annual failure rate (2.5%) in primary molars after pulpotomy, but the evidence is of low quality (single high-risk-of-bias split-mouth RCT; not GRADE-rated).

2 findings from 1 review

Pulpotomy (full or partial) vs None (single-arm pooled success proportion)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Human permanent teeth with irreversible pulpitis and open (immature) root apex due to carious pulp exposure

In open-apex teeth, pooled pulpotomy success was 95.8% (95% CI 81-99%); significantly higher than closed apex (z=2.33, p=0.02); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

color contrast: black vs dark brown/light brown/yellow vs hardness contrast: soft vs medium/hard

total microbial load (log10 CFU) · humans with open primary dentine caries

In one study, hardness category differences exceeded color category differences; no meta-analysis was conducted.

1 finding from 1 review

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) pulpotomy dressing vs Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Immature (young) permanent teeth with open apex and vital pulp exposed to dental caries or trauma, in children aged 6-14 years

A single RCT found no difference in pulpotomy success between MTA and platelet-rich fibrin (both 100% through 24 months; not pooled; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) pulpotomy dressing vs Calcium hydroxide (CH)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Immature (young) permanent teeth with open apex and vital pulp exposed to dental caries or trauma, in children aged 6-14 years

MTA and calcium hydroxide had similar clinical and radiographic pulpotomy success at 6 months (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.06; 2 RCTs; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) pulpotomy dressing vs Calcium-enriched mixture (CEM)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Immature (young) permanent teeth with open apex and vital pulp exposed to dental caries or trauma, in children aged 6-14 years

A single RCT found no difference in pulpotomy success between MTA and calcium-enriched mixture (both 100% at 6 and 12 months; not pooled; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Triple antibiotic paste (TAP) vs Abscess remedy (AR)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Immature (young) permanent teeth with open apex and vital pulp exposed to dental caries or trauma, in children aged 6-14 years

A single RCT found higher pulpotomy success with triple antibiotic paste than abscess remedy (100% vs 80%; statistically significant, P<0.05; not pooled; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) pulpotomy dressing vs Abscess remedy (AR)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Immature (young) permanent teeth with open apex and vital pulp exposed to dental caries or trauma, in children aged 6-14 years

A single RCT found higher pulpotomy success with MTA than abscess remedy (100% vs 80%; statistically significant, P<0.05; not pooled; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) pulpotomy dressing vs Triple antibiotic paste (TAP)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Immature (young) permanent teeth with open apex and vital pulp exposed to dental caries or trauma, in children aged 6-14 years

A single 3-arm RCT found no difference in pulpotomy success between MTA and triple antibiotic paste (both 100%; not pooled; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Visual caries detection (ICDAS visual/visual-tactile inspection) vs Reference standard (often histological; also invasive opening)

All occlusal carious lesions · Permanent molar surfaces in diagnostic accuracy studies (mostly in vitro; clinical)

Pooled specificity for visual detection of all occlusal lesions was 0.770 (95% CI 0.73 to 0.81).

2 findings from 1 review

Radiographic caries detection (bitewing radiography) vs Reference standard (histological validation or cavity/lesion opening; advanced = cavitated/dentin-involved lesions, all = enamel-confined initial lesions also counted)

Negative LR for detecting advanced proximal caries · Proximal surfaces of permanent molars (demonstrated in 12-14 year-olds; underlying diagnostic accuracy studies, mostly in vitro)

In the conventional (all-studies) meta-analysis, the negative lr of radiographic detection for advanced proximal caries was 0.58 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.65) (ungraded).

3 findings from 1 review

Visual caries detection (ICDAS visual/visual-tactile inspection) vs Reference standard (histological validation or cavity/lesion opening; advanced = cavitated/dentin-involved lesions, all = enamel-confined initial lesions also counted)

Specificity for detecting all (initial and advanced) occlusal caries · Occlusal surfaces of permanent molars (demonstrated in 12-14 year-olds; underlying diagnostic accuracy studies, mostly in vitro)

In the conventional (all-studies) meta-analysis, pooled specificity of visual detection for all (initial and advanced) occlusal caries was 75.3% (95% CI 70 to 80) (ungraded).

3 findings from 1 review

Visual caries detection (ICDAS visual/visual-tactile inspection) vs Reference standard (histological validation or cavity/lesion opening; advanced = cavitated/dentin-involved lesions, all = enamel-confined initial lesions also counted)

PPV for detecting advanced occlusal caries · Occlusal surfaces of permanent molars (demonstrated in 12-14 year-olds; underlying diagnostic accuracy studies, mostly in vitro)

In the German private-practice setting, the positive predictive value of visual detection for advanced occlusal caries was 77.9% at an assumed prevalence of 22.0% (ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review