Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

828 questions · 1,477 findings · 103 reviews

No studies found 5 · 0.3%GRADE not reported 1,402 · 94.9%Very low 38 · 2.6%Low 20 · 1.4%Moderate 11 · 0.7%High 1 · 0.1%

38% SDF (one-time application) vs Information unavailable

New coronal carious lesions or fillings on permanent (first) molars (caries prevention) · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars

One-time 38% SDF gave a 57% prevented fraction for caries in children's permanent first molars (single study; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride toothpaste vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Fluoride toothpaste use prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 39% of children with caries in LMICs used fluoride toothpaste (pooled prevalence 0.391, 95% CI 0.166 to 0.644; 2 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Caregiver help with child tooth brushing vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Caregiver help with tooth brushing prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 54% of children with caries in LMICs received caregiver help with tooth brushing (pooled prevalence 0.541, 95% CI 0.266 to 0.803; 3 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Female sex vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Female sex prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

Among children with caries in LMICs, about half were female (pooled prevalence 0.497, 95% CI 0.475 to 0.519; 6 studies; I2=0%; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 70% of children with caries in LMICs consumed sugary drinks/sweets (pooled prevalence 0.697, 95% CI 0.478 to 0.877; 7 studies; very high heterogeneity; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Socioeconomic status category vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Low SES prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 36% of children with caries in LMICs were of low SES (pooled prevalence 0.359, 95% CI 0.167 to 0.578; 4 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

No formal maternal education prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 10% of children with caries in LMICs had mothers with no formal education (pooled prevalence 0.101, 95% CI 0.033 to 0.201; 3 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Primary maternal education prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 42% of children with caries in LMICs had mothers with primary education (pooled prevalence 0.425, 95% CI 0.280 to 0.576; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Good brushing habits (>=2 daily tooth brushing) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Good brushing habits prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 57% of children with caries in LMICs had good brushing habits (pooled prevalence 0.569, 95% CI 0.354 to 0.771; 7 studies; very high heterogeneity; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Maternal education attainment vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Secondary/higher maternal education prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 45% of children with caries in LMICs had mothers with secondary or higher education (pooled prevalence 0.450, 95% CI 0.330 to 0.572; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Socioeconomic status category vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Middle SES prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 35% of children with caries in LMICs were of middle SES (pooled prevalence 0.353, 95% CI 0.180 to 0.550; 7 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Socioeconomic status category vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

High SES prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 25% of children with caries in LMICs were of high SES (pooled prevalence 0.245, 95% CI 0.162 to 0.339; 5 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Timing of first dental visit vs Reference visit timing

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa

An early first dental visit was associated with much lower odds of ECC (OR 0.042).

2 findings from 1 review

High dental-caries prevalence vs Not applicable

Oral health-related quality of life · people aged 60 years and older living in the community

The review reported higher OHRQoL in the low than high dental-caries-prevalence category.

1 finding from 1 review

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

Oral health education only (verbal, written, or audio-visual education) delivered by non-dental health workers vs control (no intervention/usual care/isotonic exercise)

Caries experience · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers

Oral-health-education-only interventions showed at most a marginal effect on tooth-level caries (dmft SMD -0.11, 95% CI -0.21 to -0.00; 2 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral health education only (verbal, written, or audio-visual education) delivered by non-dental health workers vs control (no intervention/usual care/isotonic exercise)

Caries experience at the surface level (dmfs/defs) · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers

Oral-health-education-only interventions did not show a statistically significant effect on surface-level caries (dmfs SMD -0.20, 95% CI -0.43 to 0.03; 2 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Behaviour change / oral health promotion interventions delivered by non-dental professionals and health workers (nurses, midwives, health visitors, community health workers) vs control (no intervention/usual care/isotonic exercise)

Caries experience at the surface level (dmfs/defs) · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers

Behaviour change interventions delivered by non-dental health workers produced a small, statistically significant reduction in caries experience at the surface level (dmfs SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.25 to -0.04; 12 studies); the review judged the overall evidence to be of low quality (not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Behaviour change / oral health promotion interventions delivered by non-dental professionals and health workers (nurses, midwives, health visitors, community health workers) vs control (no intervention/usual care/isotonic exercise)

Caries experience · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers

Behaviour change interventions delivered by non-dental health workers produced a small-to-moderate, statistically significant reduction in caries experience at the tooth level (dmft SMD -0.34, 95% CI -0.54 to -0.13; 6 studies); the review judged the overall evidence to be of low quality (not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Comprehensive oral health intervention (oral health education plus additional support: motivational interviewing, toothbrush/toothpaste provision, community engagement, and/or fluoride varnish/sealant application) delivered by non-dental health workers vs control (no intervention/usual care/isotonic exercise)

Caries experience at the surface level (dmfs/defs) · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers

Comprehensive interventions produced a small, statistically significant reduction in surface-level caries (dmfs SMD -0.14, 95% CI -0.26 to -0.02; 10 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review