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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,447 questions · 2,590 findings · 266 reviews

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No studies found 699 · 27%GRADE not reported 289 · 11.2%Very low 614 · 23.7%Low 605 · 23.4%Moderate 322 · 12.4%High 61 · 2.4%

Moderate-severe active dental caries (exposure) vs Caries-free or mild dental caries (control)

Salivary IL-6 level (pg/mL) · Children and young adults (3-25 years)

Salivary IL-6 levels are significantly higher in children and young adults with active dental caries than in caries-free or mild-caries controls (SMD 11.60 pg/mL, 95% CI 6.27 to 16.94; 11 studies); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Moderate-severe active dental caries (exposure) vs Caries-free or mild dental caries (control)

Salivary IL-8 level (pg/mL) · Children and young adults (3-25 years)

Salivary IL-8 levels are higher in children and young adults with active dental caries than in controls but the difference is not statistically significant (SMD 57.20 pg/mL, 95% CI -18.60 to 133.00; 7 studies); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Moderate-severe active dental caries (exposure) vs Caries-free or mild dental caries (control)

TNF-α level · Children and young adults (3-25 years)

Salivary TNF-α levels are significantly higher in children and young adults with active dental caries than in caries-free or mild-caries controls (SMD 14.81 pg/mL, 95% CI 4.76 to 24.86; 7 studies); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Dental caries vs Caries-free status

Relative abundance of S. mutans in saliva · Systemically healthy individuals (children and adults, aged 40 months to 50 years) assessed for dental caries

The relative abundance of S. mutans in saliva is significantly higher in caries-active than caries-free individuals (pooled SMD 1.48, 95% CI 0.45 to 2.50), but heterogeneity is very high (I2=90%); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Dental caries vs Caries-free status

Oral microbial community composition and diversity (other caries-associated taxa; alpha- and beta-diversity) · Systemically healthy individuals (children and adults, aged 40 months to 50 years) assessed for dental caries

No oral microbial taxon other than S. mutans was consistently associated with caries; alpha-diversity mostly did not differ between caries-active and caries-free groups and beta-diversity findings were mixed (ungraded, narrative).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Streptococcus mutans and Caries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Cross-sectional · Clinical oral-microbiome studies; saliva and/or supragingival plaque samples; 7 countries; DNA/RNA-based sequencing or microarray
    Narrative synthesis (no pooled estimate): no bacterial genus or species other than S. mutans was consistently (reported in more than 2 studies) associated with caries-active status (Table 3; 15 of 19 studies for…
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Dental caries vs Caries-free status

Prevalence (detection frequency) of S. mutans in plaque · Systemically healthy individuals (children and adults, aged 40 months to 50 years) assessed for dental caries

S. mutans prevalence in plaque is significantly higher in caries-active than caries-free individuals (pooled OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.65 to 4.02; I2=16%); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy, >=3 drugs) vs HIV-positive not receiving HAART (standard ART or HAART-naive)

Dental caries · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

Among HIV+ children, HAART versus no HAART showed no significant difference in the odds of dental caries by DMFT in cross-sectional studies (OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.59 to 2.84; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy, >=3 drugs) vs HIV-positive not receiving HAART (standard ART or HAART-naive)

Dental caries in permanent teeth · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

Among HIV+ children, HAART was associated with a significantly higher DMFT index than no HAART in case-control studies (MD 2.02, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.80; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy, >=3 drugs) vs HIV-positive not receiving HAART (standard ART or HAART-naive)

Caries in primary teeth: dmft (3 years) · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)

Among HIV+ children, HAART versus no HAART showed no significant difference in the dmft index in case-control studies (MD 0.66, 95% CI -0.26 to 1.58; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review