Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

Refine by population, intervention, comparison or outcome
More filters
Evidence found and GRADE certainty

1,052 questions · 1,797 findings · 134 reviews

No studies found 10 · 0.6%GRADE not reported 1,630 · 90.7%Very low 95 · 5.3%Low 23 · 1.3%Moderate 22 · 1.2%High 17 · 0.9%

Obesity (Unclassified) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Dental caries prevalence · Brazilian children in primary dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of obesity on caries odds in the primary dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Teledentistry (index test): dental caries diagnosis from photographs taken with DSLR or smartphone cameras; store-and-forward vs Visual or clinical examination

Negative predictive value · Children and adults with primary or permanent dentition undergoing dental caries assessment

Negative predictive value was reported in 10 studies and ranged widely across studies (about 31% to 99.5%); no pooled estimate and certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight/obesity (combined) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Dental caries prevalence · Brazilian children/adolescents (BMI classified by WHO 2007 percentile)

The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of overweight/obesity on caries odds (WHO 2007 percentile; very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight/obesity (combined) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Dental caries prevalence · Brazilian children in primary dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of overweight/obesity on caries odds in the primary dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

High-frequency sugar consumption (three or more times daily) vs Low sugar intake (fewer than three times daily)

Dental caries prevalence · Nigerian individuals, including children and adults, with primary or permanent dentition

High-frequency sugar consumption was associated with 18% higher but non-significant odds of dental caries in Nigeria (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.59; I2=36%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Sodium fluoride (5% NaF, one-time [Mauro] or every 6 months [Liu]) vs Control (water or unspecified)

New coronal caries in permanent molars (caries prevention) · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars

NaF gave a 48% prevented fraction (fissure site) vs water (p<0.002; ungraded).

3 findings from 1 review

Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) sealant (one-time) vs no treatment

New coronal caries in permanent first molars (caries prevention) · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars

ART within a brushing programme significantly reduced caries vs control (p<0.01; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

2.26% ammonium bifluoride (one-time) vs Control (details reported as unavailable)

New coronal caries in permanent first molars (caries prevention) · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars

One-time ammonium bifluoride gave a 56% prevented fraction, similar to SDF (57%) (single study; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

38% SDF (one-time application) vs inactive control

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

One-time SDF within a brushing programme did not significantly reduce caries vs control (p>0.05; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

38% SDF (indirect pulp capping) vs Resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC)

Secondary prevention of caries · children with deep occlusal carious lesions in permanent molars

No significant difference in secondary caries prevention was reported; no effect estimate or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

38% SDF (indirect pulp capping under resin composite) vs Resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC)

Secondary caries prevention in young permanent first molars · Children with deep occlusal caries in young permanent first molars (indirect pulp capping)

SDF and RMGIC did not differ significantly for secondary caries prevention in young permanent molars (no events; p>0.05; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

38% SDF plus potassium iodide (KI) (indirect pulp capping) vs Resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC)

Secondary prevention of caries · children with deep occlusal carious lesions in permanent molars

No significant difference in secondary caries prevention was reported; no effect estimate or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

38% SDF plus potassium iodide (KI) (indirect pulp capping) vs Resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC)

Secondary caries prevention in young permanent first molars · Children with deep occlusal caries in young permanent first molars (indirect pulp capping)

SDF+KI and RMGIC did not differ significantly for secondary caries prevention (p>0.05; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Strategies to integrate oral health into primary care (e.g., training/education of non-dental primary care professionals, policy/financing and health-insurance changes, colocation of dental and medical services, interprofessional and community-health-worker collaboration, teledentistry, integrated oral health assessment tools, school-based activities) vs No integration / usual care (or pre-integration baseline; many included studies uncontrolled)

Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of staff and patients regarding oral health · People of all ages and abilities served through primary care and related settings (children, pregnant women, older adults in…

Integration strategies were generally associated with positive oral health knowledge, attitudes and perceptions among staff and patients (16 studies, narrative synthesis; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Strategies to integrate oral health into primary care: a systematic review. 2023 All outcomes
    Primary care, community, school, and aged-care/residential/nursing-home settings
    Knowledge/attitudes/perceptions of staff and patients was the second most studied outcome (n=16). Patient and staff perceptions on various aspects of the integration strategy were usually reported as positive.…
    16 studies
    GRADE not reported

Resin sealant (one-time) vs Control (water)

New coronal caries in permanent molars (caries prevention) · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars

Resin sealant gave a 65% prevented fraction (fissure site) vs water, the highest fissure-site value (p<0.002; ungraded).

2 findings from 1 review

38% silver diamine fluoride vs Glass ionomer cement (GIC) plus fluoride varnish

Caries prevention (preventive fraction, SDF vs GIC+5% fluoride varnish) · intellectually disabled individuals with caries in permanent posterior teeth

SDF had a 45% preventative fraction versus glass ionomer cement plus fluoride varnish; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Sodium fluoride (NaF) varnish, applied every 3 months, plus OHI vs inactive control

Root carious lesions prevention · Older adults with root caries (community-dwelling or residential elders)

In elders, sodium fluoride varnish gave a 64% prevented fraction for root caries vs water, lower than SDF (71%) (p<0.01; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Strategies to integrate oral health into primary care (e.g., training/education of non-dental primary care professionals, policy/financing and health-insurance changes, colocation of dental and medical services, interprofessional and community-health-worker collaboration, teledentistry, integrated oral health assessment tools, school-based activities) vs No integration / usual care (or pre-integration baseline; many included studies uncontrolled)

Barriers and facilitators to implementation of the integration strategy (qualitative) · People of all ages and abilities served through primary care and related settings (children, pregnant women, older adults in…

Key barriers to implementing integration strategies were time/staff/resource constraints and lack of organisational support, while facilitators were professionals' knowledge and attitudes and supportive governance/leadership (qualitative; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Strategies to integrate oral health into primary care: a systematic review. 2023 All outcomes
    Primary care, community, school, and aged-care/residential/nursing-home settings
    The most commonly studied qualitative outcomes were barriers and facilitators related to the strategy implementation process. Reported barriers were time and staff constraints, resource limitations and lack of…
    15 studies
    GRADE not reported

Periodontal disease (periodontitis; clinical attachment loss >=4 mm) vs Adults without periodontal disease (healthy periodontal status; CAL <=3 mm)

Root caries (presence of root caries) · Adults (mean age ~53 years)

Adults with periodontal disease had significantly higher odds of root caries than those without (pooled OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.53; 2 observational studies; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review