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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,745 questions · 4,389 findings · 203 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 39 · 0.9%GRADE not reported 3,844 · 87.6%Very low 198 · 4.5%Low 137 · 3.1%Moderate 134 · 3.1%High 37 · 0.8%

AI algorithms (predominantly CNN/deep learning) as index test vs Dental expert / visual-tactile clinical assessment (reference standard)

Positive likelihood ratio · Patients undergoing dental caries detection on dental images (teeth/surfaces across imaging modalities)

A positive AI test raises caries probability substantially (LR+ 10.44; positive post-test probability 79%); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy (HI) vs HIV-unexposed uninfected children (HUU)

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

HIV-infected children on ART had higher odds of dental caries than HUU children in case-control studies (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.56; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

Self-assembling/remineralizing peptide (e.g., P11-4, PAA-PASP) vs Flavonoids (e.g., quercetin, proanthocyanidin)

Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro)

In the Etch-and-Rinse adhesive + biological ACAD protocol network, Peptide showed 9.857 MPa higher 24 h bond strength than Flavonoids (MD 9.857, 95% CI 2.588 to 17.126; Moderate certainty).

2 findings from 1 review

AI algorithms (predominantly CNN/deep learning) as index test vs Dental expert / visual-tactile clinical assessment (reference standard)

Log diagnostic odds ratio · Patients undergoing dental caries detection on dental images (teeth/surfaces across imaging modalities)

AI algorithms show strong pooled discriminative accuracy for dental caries (log DOR 4.37; DOR 70.9); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference)

Lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) · Females aged over 50 years

In females over 50, spine BMD showed an inverted U-shaped curve with a downward trend beginning at lower fluoride concentrations than in the overall analysis; no numeric MD reported in text; ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure · General population; 37 observational studies (1944-2024), predominantly North America (USA, Canada) and Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden), plus UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Ethiopia; exposure mainly community drinking-water fluoride · Females >50, spine BMD dose-response
    Inverted U-shaped curve with a downward trend starting at lower fluoride concentrations than the overall analysis (no numeric MD reported in text)
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Hall technique vs Silver diamine fluoride

Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth

At 12 months, the Hall technique had significantly higher treatment success than SDF (OR 3.23; moderate certainty).

2 findings from 1 review

Severe early childhood caries vs Caries-free controls

Relative abundance of S. mutans in saliva · Children under 6 years with severe early childhood caries and caries-free controls

S. mutans median relative abundance was higher in the S-ECC group, without a comparative effect estimate or CI.

1 finding from 1 review