Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

78 questions · 237 findings · 23 reviews

No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 225 · 94.9%Very low 10 · 4.2%Low 2 · 0.8%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

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)

Adherence to oral hygiene routines by people with ID or their carers · Children or adolescents

Gamified interventions appear to increase children's engagement and adherence to oral hygiene routines, 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 regular use rate was significantly higher (72.4%) in the gamified mobile health app group than in the nongamified intervention group (48.3%) [Zolfaghari 2021]; quiz-based challenges in mobile apps encouraged higher…
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

All dental health care expenditure strata vs No comparator

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

The overall pooled mean DMFT was 2.10 across all dental health care expenditure strata.

1 finding from 1 review

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)

Plaque index (PI) / oral hygiene · Children or adolescents

Gamified interventions appear to improve plaque control and oral hygiene status in children versus conventional methods, but the evidence is narrative and ungraded (individual-study P values only).

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
    In the gamified mobile health app group, plaque control was superior (P<.05) compared with the conventional method group [Zolfaghari 2021]; a gamified/reminder sticker-book group showed a significant improvement in…
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

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

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 hygiene behavior (brushing habits, preventive dental visits, dietary choices) · Children or adolescents

Gamified interventions appear to improve oral hygiene behaviors (brushing habits, preventive dental visits) in children, 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
    A gesture-based motion-capture game enhanced brushing independence and skill retention (P<.001) [Kang 2021]; 58.8% of caregivers reported their children brushed more often when using gamified applications [France…
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Incidence of new ICLs (mean number of new lesions per subject) · Patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances, followed for development of new ICLs

Patients developed on average about 2.29 new ICLs during fixed orthodontic treatment (95% CI 1.12-3.46; very low certainty; very high heterogeneity).

1 finding from 1 review

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Prevalence of ICLs (mean number of lesions per subject) · Patients (permanent dentition) during or after fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances

Patients had on average about 2.24 ICLs per subject during/after fixed orthodontic treatment (95% CI 1.79-2.70; very low certainty; very high heterogeneity).

1 finding from 1 review

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

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Permanent teeth with carious pulp exposure

Hemostasis within 6 min gave the highest success (90.4%), but the difference across hemostasis-time groups was not significant (ungraded).

13 findings from 1 review
Show 10 more findings

Extraction of the permanent first molar vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Spontaneous space closure · Children and adolescents after extraction of a mandibular permanent first molar (before eruption of the second molar)

In the maxilla, spontaneous space closure occurred in about 85% of cases (9 studies; prevalence not GRADE-rated).

3 findings from 1 review

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Incidence of new ICLs (proportion of tooth surfaces developing new lesions) · Patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances, followed for development of new ICLs

About 15% of tooth surfaces developed new ICLs during fixed orthodontic treatment (pooled 0.15, 95% CI 0.08-0.26; very low certainty; extreme heterogeneity).

1 finding from 1 review

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Association between orthodontic treatment duration and ICLs prevalence · Patients (permanent dentition) during or after fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances

ICLs prevalence increased with longer orthodontic treatment duration (meta-regression P=.01; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Association between patient age and number of ICLs · Patients (permanent dentition) during or after fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances

Patient age was not significantly associated with the number of ICLs (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Extraction of the mandibular permanent first molar vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Rotation of the mandibular second premolar · Children and adolescents after extraction of a mandibular permanent first molar (before eruption of the second molar)

After mandibular first molar extraction, the second premolar was rotated in about 60% of cases (2 studies; very imprecise; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Association between orthodontic treatment duration and ICLs incidence · Patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances, followed for development of new ICLs

ICLs incidence increased with longer orthodontic treatment duration (meta-regression P<.01; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Extraction of the mandibular permanent first molar vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Rotation of the mandibular second permanent molar · Children and adolescents after extraction of a mandibular permanent first molar (before eruption of the second molar)

After mandibular first molar extraction, the second molar was rotated in about 77% of cases (2 studies; very imprecise; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Disability (developmental, intellectual, or sensory) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Moderate gingival inflammation / gingival health · Persons with disabilities (children and adults with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, hearing impairment, or multiple disabilities)…

Gingival inflammation is common among persons with disabilities in Saudi Arabia (moderate-to-severe up to about 60%), reported narratively without a pooled comparative estimate (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Extraction of the mandibular permanent first molar vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Rotation of the mandibular first premolar · Children and adolescents after extraction of a mandibular permanent first molar (before eruption of the second molar)

After mandibular first molar extraction, the first premolar was rotated in about 38% of cases (2 studies; very imprecise; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Incidence of new ICLs (proportion of subjects developing new lesions) · Patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances, followed for development of new ICLs

About 48% of patients developed new ICLs during fixed orthodontic treatment (pooled incidence 0.48, 95% CI 0.33-0.63; very low certainty; very high heterogeneity).

1 finding from 1 review