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Each row is one question a systematic review asked: who, what, compared with what, and which outcome, with the effect it found and how certain that is. Words match anywhere in the field.
5,762 questions in 263 reviews · Dental caries
current versionsNo studies 321 · 5.6%Ungraded 4,450 · 77.2%Very low 455 · 7.9%Low 297 · 5.2%Moderate 200 · 3.5%High 39 · 0.7%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
| Question | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Full pulpotomy vs Partial pulpotomy Clinical and radiographic success rate · Adults aged 18 years or older with mature permanent teeth and carious pulp exposure · 1 year, Irreversible pulpitis Partial pulpotomy for carious pulp exposure in adult mature permanent teeth: a systematic review and… (2025) | Log odds ratio (LogOR) -0.77 [-1.62, 0.09] | 3 studies · 204 participants | Ungraded |
Orofacial cleft (cleft lip and/or palate) as exposure vs Healthy controls without cleft Gingival Index (GI) · Individuals assessed for periodontal health (mainly children and adolescents, age >2 years) Oral health in patients with cleft lip and palate: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of… (2025) | MD 0.15 [0.11, 0.19] | 4 studies · 488 participants | Low |
Calcium vs Control Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · permanent human teeth with artificial caries-affected dentin · 24 h, Etch-and-Rinse; chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD -0.508 [-8.207, 7.191] | 3 studies | Very low |
Genetically predicted periodontitis vs Lower genetically predicted periodontitis liability Osteoporosis with pathological fracture · European GWAS participants · SVMR Maximum Likelihood From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 1.003 [0.874, 1.151] | 376746 participants | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted dental caries (DMFS index) vs Reference (1-SD lower genetically predicted DMFS) Osteoporosis · European-ancestry adults · Lifelong genetic liability, MVMR (IVW), adjusted for periodontitis From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 1.165 [1.020, 1.331] | 483725 participants | Ungraded |
Anticaries vaccine or antibody (DNA, recombinant protein, nanoparticle-adjuvanted, live-vector, plant-based, or passive IgY immunization) targeting S. mutans vs Control (unvaccinated / empty vector / PBS / placebo animals) Streptococcus mutans colonization reduction (narrative; no CFU data reported) · Animal caries models (mice, rats, hamsters) challenged/colonized with Streptococcus mutans; one transgenic-plant… Assessing the Efficacy and Immunogenicity of Anticaries Vaccine-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. (2025) | no estimate extracted | NR | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted dental caries (DMFS index) vs Reference (1-SD lower genetically predicted DMFS) Forearm bone mineral density (FA-BMD) · European-ancestry adults · Lifelong genetic liability, SVMR and MVMR (IVW) From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | No causal effect of oral diseases on FA-BMD was found (SVMR and MVMR); no numeric estimate reported in text (see Fig. 3). | 8143 participants | Ungraded |
Obesity or overweight (higher BMI, mostly WHO BMI ≥25/≥30; 2 studies used waist circumference) vs Normal weight (not overweight or obese) Dental caries (study-defined binary; assessed by DMFT, number of dental caries, or dentist diagnosis) · Adults (≥18 years) · By confounder adjustment: adjusted Multimorbidity patterns of dental caries and obesity/overweight among adults: a systematic review and… (2025) | OR 1.00 [0.89, 1.12] | NR | Ungraded |
Ion-releasing restorations (IRR): RMGIC, HVGIC, GIC, compomer/PMRC, giomer vs Composite resin (CR), including bulk-fill composite Adequate marginal adaptation · Children receiving dental restorations (aged 4-11 years; primary teeth; Class I/II/V cavities) · 1 to 2 years Clinical effectiveness of ion-releasing restorations compared to composite restorations in pediatric dental… (2025) | RR 1.02 [0.96, 1.08] | 5 studies · 335 participants | High |
Hall technique vs Sealing Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth · 12 months, 12-month follow-up Comparative success of minimally invasive treatments for cavitated caries in primary teeth: a network… (2025) | OR 13.93 [1.34, 144.52] | 43 studies | Moderate |
Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) vs Calcium hydroxide (CaOH) Postoperative pain (patient-reported) · Vital permanent teeth (mature or immature) with deep or extremely deep caries and asymptomatic pulp or reversible… · 6 hours to 7 days Effectiveness of calcium hydroxide compared to hydraulic calcium silicate cements for direct pulp capping in… (2025) | Two studies assessed postoperative pain; no meta-analysis was performed due to methodological heterogeneity. Suhag 2019: significantly higher pain in CaOH than MTA at 18 h (CaOH 18.5 +/- 20.8 mm vs MTA 6.3 +/- 9.5 mm,… | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference) Risk of femoral fractures · General population (both sexes, all ages) · Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure, Drinking-water fluoride 1.8 mg/L vs null The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. (2025) | RR 1.06 [0.67, 1.69] | NR | Ungraded |
E-cigarette use (ENDS / vaping) vs Non-smokers Interleukin-6 (IL-6) · Humans who use e-cigarettes (mostly adults, often with periodontal disease) assessed for oral proinflammatory markers · Cross-sectional (single time point) for most; a few 6-month prospective, Overall (saliva + GCF) The effects of electronic smoking on dental caries and proinflammatory markers: a systematic review and… (2025) | Cohen's d 0.83 [-0.16, 1.79] | 6 studies | Ungraded |
AI systems for caries detection/segmentation on dental X-ray images (predominantly convolutional neural networks; also ANNs, DNNs, DCNN, FCNN, SVMs, decision trees, random forests; e.g. EfficientNet, ResNet, AlexNet) vs Human dentists / trained dental professionals or traditional radiographic interpretation (reference standard / reference models) Specificity · Patients undergoing dental X-ray (radiographic) imaging for caries detection · Overall (all studies pooled) Accuracy of artificial intelligence in caries detection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) | Proportion (weighted mean specificity, %) 87.90 | 7 studies | Ungraded |
Dental treatments, care, and services (the decision context) vs None (no comparator defined) Dental fear (fear of treatment) as a factor of choice · (Potential) patients with freedom of choice regarding dental treatments, including parents and caregivers deciding for… Decision-making regarding dental treatments - What factors matter from patients' perspective? A systematic… (2025) | 'Fear' (of treatment; synonyms e.g., 'fear of needles') identified in N=64 articles (code frequency n=73), the second most frequent factor; frequently reported in India (42%), Saudi Arabia (39%) and Brazil (36%), but… | 64 studies | Ungraded |
Higher drinking-water fluoride concentration vs Null/reference drinking-water fluoride exposure Spine bone mineral density · Females · Females, low-to-moderate risk-of-bias studies: above 2.35 mg/L vs null The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. (2025) | MD 0.07 [0.11, 0.24] | NR | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 2: loss of dental hard substance adjacent to the restoration · HDI: Medium Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 0.40 [0.08, 2.03] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Children with dental caries vs Children without dental caries (caries-free) Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) · Children and adolescents (0-18 years; most included reviews focused on <6 years) Association Between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Dental Caries in Children: A Systematic Umbrella Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD -1.96 [-4.02, 0.10] | 3 studies | Very low |
Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference) Risk of fragility fractures · Males · Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure, Males: drinking-water fluoride 1.8 mg/L vs null The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. (2025) | RR 0.87 [0.48, 1.58] | 7 studies | Ungraded |
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 1: partial loss or fracture of the restoration · Dentists managing a defective direct amalgam restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of a… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Continent: South America Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 6.20 [4.66, 8.25] | 2 studies · 349 participants | Ungraded |
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries · Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Continent: Africa Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 4.62 [3.64, 5.86] | 2 studies · 339 participants | Ungraded |
Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers IL-6 level · People who use electronic cigarettes · GCF The effects of electronic smoking on dental caries and proinflammatory markers: a systematic review and… (2025) | Cohen's d 1.43 [0.76, 2.10] | 1 study | Ungraded |
Quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) vs Reference standard (histology; some ICDAS/radiography) Occlusal caries detection: sensitivity · Extracted human teeth (in vitro); permanent and primary teeth, occlusal surfaces · Overall (all dentition) Diagnostic accuracy of quantitative light-induced fluorescence in detecting caries of various types and… (2025) | Sensitivity 0.83 | 5 studies | Ungraded |
Self-assembling/remineralizing peptide (e.g., P11-4, PAA-PASP) 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) · 24 h (immediate), Self-Etch + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD -0.009 [-4.076, 4.058] | 1 study | Low |
HIV infection with antiretroviral therapy (ART/HAART) vs HIV-negative individuals Dental caries (presence/absence) · Children and adolescents under 18 years with HIV · Not specified (cross-sectional), Cross-sectional studies Association between antiretroviral therapy and dental caries in children and adolescents with HIV: a… (2025) | OR 2.04 [1.21, 3.42] | 6 studies · 2206 participants | Very low |
Intervention NR Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 2: loss of dental hard substance adjacent to the restoration · HDI: Very high Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 0.70 [0.49, 1.00] | 10 studies | Ungraded |
Dental caries (ECC/severe ECC) as exposure/grouping vs Caries-free controls Relative abundance of Streptococcus mutans · Individuals assessed for dental caries, predominantly children with early childhood caries (ECC) or severe ECC (age… A systematic review of Streptococcus Mutans and Veillonellae species interactions in dental caries… (2025) | Reported in 2 studies without pooling: Agnello 2017 median S. mutans relative abundance 0.73% (0.02-22.9) in caries vs 0.15% (0.006-10.4) in controls; Chalmers 2015 Streptococcus 35.63+/-17.04 (caries) vs 32.11+/-18.91… | 1 study · 50 participants | Ungraded |
Hall technique vs Placebo Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth · 6 months, 6-month follow-up Comparative success of minimally invasive treatments for cavitated caries in primary teeth: a network… (2025) | OR 163.59 [10.15, 2636.00] | 44 studies | Moderate |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · Country: Tunisia Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) | Prevalence 38 [24, 51] | 4 studies | Ungraded |
Theory-based oral health education/promotion interventions (HBM, TPB, SCT, HAPA, TTM, PMT, SOC, PRECEDE-PROCEED, MI) vs Control (waitlist, routine/standard oral health education, or minimal intervention) Self-efficacy related to oral health · Children and adolescents aged 5-18 years · Post-intervention (follow-up 4 weeks to 12 months, varies by study), Overall Health promotion theory-based educational interventions for improving oral health in children and… (2025) | SMD 1.49 [0.99, 2.00] | 10 studies · 4513 participants | Low |
HEMA/EGDMA-based desensitizer vs No biomimetic remineralization (control) Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Self-Etch + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD 1.899 [-3.210, 7.009] | 1 study | Low |
Calcium phosphate agent (e.g., CPP-ACP, Ca/P-PILP, niobophosphate) vs Fluoride agent (e.g., NaF/SDF/KF/CaF2) Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Self-Etch + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD 2.140 [-1.506, 5.787] | 1 study | Moderate |
Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference) Risk of fragility fractures · General population (both sexes, all ages) · Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure, Drinking-water fluoride up to 0.9 mg/L vs null The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. (2025) | RR 0.93 [0.84, 1.02] | NR | Ungraded |
Self-assembling/remineralizing peptide (e.g., P11-4, PAA-PASP) vs Calcium-based agent Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Self-Etch + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD 2.654 [-3.216, 8.524] | 0 studies | Moderate |
Hall technique vs Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth · 6 months, 6-month follow-up Comparative success of minimally invasive treatments for cavitated caries in primary teeth: a network… (2025) | OR 10.11 [3.03, 33.71] | 44 studies | Moderate |
Hall technique vs Conventional restoration Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth · 12-24 months, 12-24-month follow-up Comparative success of minimally invasive treatments for cavitated caries in primary teeth: a network… (2025) | OR 4.17 [1.44, 12.10] | 21 studies | Moderate |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 8: disruption of occlusal integrity · Coverage: Not covering Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 1.67 [1.20, 2.30] | NR | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 1: partial loss or fracture of the restoration · Continent: Europe Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 0.59 [0.38, 0.90] | 6 studies | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 6: corrosion · HDI: Medium Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 1.39 [0.41, 4.68] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers TNF-α level · People who use electronic cigarettes · GCF The effects of electronic smoking on dental caries and proinflammatory markers: a systematic review and… (2025) | Cohen's d 2.19 [1.53, 2.84] | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Self-assembling/remineralizing peptide (e.g., P11-4, PAA-PASP) vs Calcium-based agent Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro) · 24 h (immediate), Etch-and-Rinse + chemical ACAD Biomimetic Remineralization Strategies for Dentin Bond Stability-Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. (2025) | MD 4.044 [-4.923, 3.011] | 0 studies | Low |
Dental treatments, care, and services (the decision context) vs None (no comparator defined) Aesthetics as a factor of choice · (Potential) patients with freedom of choice regarding dental treatments, including parents and caregivers deciding for… Decision-making regarding dental treatments - What factors matter from patients' perspective? A systematic… (2025) | 'Aesthetics' (synonyms e.g., 'cosmetic') identified in N=53 articles (code frequency n=64); mentioned most in Brazil (57%) and Saudi Arabia (30%), less often in India (11%) and Turkey (9%). | 53 studies | Ungraded |
Genetically predicted periodontitis vs Lower genetically predicted periodontitis liability Forearm fracture · European GWAS participants · SVMR Weighted Median From teeth to bone: dental caries has causal effects on osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. (2025) | OR 0.992 [0.945, 1.042] | 490889 participants | Ungraded |
Intervention NR Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 5: open margin · Continent: Europe Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 4.79 [2.98, 7.69] | 6 studies | Ungraded |
E-cigarette use (ENDS / vaping) vs Non-smokers Dry mouth (xerostomia) · Humans who use e-cigarettes (adolescents to adults) assessed for dental caries · Cross-sectional to 12 months The effects of electronic smoking on dental caries and proinflammatory markers: a systematic review and… (2025) | Narrative synthesis. E-cigarette users reported dry mouth more frequently than non-smokers: Chaffee 2021 dry mouth 12% (OR 1.4); Alhajj 2022 dry mouth 33.3% in e-cigarette users vs 23.4% in controls. Not pooled. | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Country-level periodontal disease prevalence (Global Burden of Disease) vs Low vs high periodontal disease prevalence Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL sum score, transformed 0-100) · Community-dwelling elderly persons aged ≥60 years · Across periodontal disease prevalence categories Association between oral health-related quality of life and structural determinants of health among elderly… (2025) | No statistically significant difference in OHRQoL based on periodontal disease prevalence (Fig. 4b). | NR | Ungraded |
Country-level income (World Bank income classification) vs Higher- vs lower-income country categories Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL sum score, transformed 0-100) · Community-dwelling elderly persons aged ≥60 years · High-middle to high income Association between oral health-related quality of life and structural determinants of health among elderly… (2025) | MEAN 77.9 [70.2, 85.6] | NR | Ungraded |
Hydraulic calcium silicate cements (HCSC; MTA or Biodentine) vs Calcium hydroxide (CaOH) Clinical and radiographic success · Vital permanent teeth (mature or immature) with deep or extremely deep caries and asymptomatic pulp or reversible… · 36 months, 36-month follow-up Effectiveness of calcium hydroxide compared to hydraulic calcium silicate cements for direct pulp capping in… (2025) | OR 2.34 [1.43, 3.84] | 2 studies · 379 participants | Ungraded |
HIV infection with antiretroviral therapy (ART/HAART) vs HIV-negative individuals Dental caries severity (dmft index, primary dentition) · Children and adolescents under 18 years with HIV · Not specified (cross-sectional), Cross-sectional studies; dmft index Association between antiretroviral therapy and dental caries in children and adolescents with HIV: a… (2025) | MD 0.92 [-0.09, 1.93] | 5 studies · 1502 participants | Very low |
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 4: marginal discoloration · Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Overall (all 21 countries pooled) Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) | RR 1.97 [1.55, 2.49] | 21 studies · 3680 participants | Ungraded |