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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

77 questions · 105 findings · 15 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 4 · 3.8%GRADE not reported 94 · 89.5%Very low 2 · 1.9%Low 3 · 2.9%Moderate 2 · 1.9%High 0 · 0%

Xylitol (low-intensity sweetener/sugar alcohol) in food products (chewing gum, milk, candy, or tablets) vs Sorbitol (low-intensity sweetener)

Change in Mutans streptococci (MS) count in saliva · healthy people

Xylitol and sorbitol did not differ significantly for Mutans streptococci in saliva (SMD -0.16, 95% CI -0.44 to 0.12; 2 trials, P=.25); not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

Xylitol (low-intensity sweetener/sugar alcohol) in food products (chewing gum, milk, candy, or tablets) vs no intervention

Change in Mutans streptococci (MS) count in dental plaque · healthy people

Xylitol significantly reduced Mutans streptococci in dental plaque compared with no treatment (SMD -0.73, 95% CI -1.09 to -0.37; 5 trials, I2=53%; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Xylitol (low-intensity sweetener/sugar alcohol) in food products (chewing gum, milk, candy, or tablets) vs Sorbitol (low-intensity sweetener)

Change in Mutans streptococci (MS) count in dental plaque · healthy people

Xylitol reduced Mutans streptococci in dental plaque more than sorbitol (SMD -0.45, 95% CI -0.69 to -0.21; 4 trials, I2=7%); not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

Dental caries vs Caries-free controls

Oral health-related quality of life · Indians

In adolescents (10-19 years), dental caries was associated with poorer OHRQoL (pooled OR 3.92; 5 studies); ungraded.

5 findings from 1 review
Show 2 more findings

Dental caries assessment (WHO/clinical diagnostic criteria; caries = DMFT>0) vs Caries-free status

CA VI activity · Children (age about 2-9 years) across the 7 meta-analyzed activity samples; excludes Kivela 1999 adults (18-24 years), qualitative only…

Salivary/biofilm CA VI activity is significantly higher in individuals with dental caries than in caries-free individuals (SMD 0.894, 95% CI 0.386 to 1.392; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Common genetic variants genome-wide (GWAS; ~3.9 million SNPs with MAF > 5%) vs ECC-unaffected children (per-allele case-control association)

Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs76823412 (8:134690570; nearest gene(s) ST3GAL1) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)

The common variant rs8091366 near CHST9, KCTD1 showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = 4.476, p = 7.60e-6); genetic association, ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Common genetic variants genome-wide (GWAS; ~3.9 million SNPs with MAF > 5%) vs ECC-unaffected children (per-allele case-control association)

Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs563135 (10:115067899; nearest gene(s) TCF7L2, CASP7) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)

The common variant rs563135 near TCF7L2, CASP7 showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = -4.532, p = 5.86e-6); genetic association, ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Daily fluoride intake from toothpaste vs Child age (across age groups)

Association between age and daily fluoride intake from toothpaste · Children using fluoride toothpaste (all tap-water fluoride categories)

There was no correlation between daily fluoride intake from toothpaste and the age of children (all R2 < 0.14), across all tap-water fluoride categories (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Fluoride Intake Through Dental Care Products: A Systematic Review. 2022 All outcomes
    Multiple countries (28 studies; ~43% conducted in Brazil); community/general-population settings · All tap-water fluoride categories; Levy et al. [20,22,24] data excluded
    R2 (coefficient of determination) <0.14
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Common genetic variants genome-wide (GWAS; ~3.9 million SNPs with MAF > 5%) vs ECC-unaffected children (per-allele case-control association)

Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs1044956 (7:24854765; nearest gene(s) OSBPL3, NPVF) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)

The common variant rs1044956 near OSBPL3, NPVF showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = 4.551, p = 5.35e-6); genetic association, ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Common genetic variants genome-wide (GWAS; ~3.9 million SNPs with MAF > 5%) vs ECC-unaffected children (per-allele case-control association)

Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs7325099 (13:28104496; nearest gene(s) LNX2, POLR1D, RPL21) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)

The common variant rs7325099 near LNX2, POLR1D, RPL21 showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = 4.485, p = 7.28e-6); genetic association, ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Common genetic variants genome-wide (GWAS; ~3.9 million SNPs with MAF > 5%) vs ECC-unaffected children (per-allele case-control association)

Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs74470773 (3:33958083; nearest gene(s) PDCD6IP) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)

The common variant rs74470773 near PDCD6IP showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = -4.589, p = 4.46e-6); genetic association, ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Special health care needs vs None (descriptive; compared across disability types)

Oral health status and treatment needs · Arab children with special health care needs in Ras Al Khaimah

One study found very high caries (85.2%) and high unmet treatment needs among children with special healthcare needs, varying by disability type (narrative synthesis; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Down syndrome vs Individuals without Down syndrome (healthy controls: siblings, schoolchildren or others)

Mean DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth) · Individuals of all ages

Individuals with Down syndrome had a lower mean DMFT in permanent teeth than controls (pooled SMD -0.18, 95% CI -0.35 to -0.02; 6 studies; I2=20%); certainty of evidence not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Down syndrome vs Individuals without Down syndrome (healthy controls: siblings, schoolchildren or others)

Dental caries · Individuals of all ages

Individuals with Down syndrome had a lower prevalence of dental caries than those without (pooled OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.57; 2 studies; I2=0%); certainty of evidence not graded.

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

Machine-learning algorithms for dental caries detection vs Dental expert / visual-tactile clinical assessment (reference standard)

Negative post-test probability · Dental images or diagnostic tests for dental caries detection

The negative post-test probability was 6%; certainty was not graded.

1 finding from 1 review