Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

88 questions · 99 findings · 17 reviews · Dental caries

No studies found 3 · 3%GRADE not reported 76 · 76.8%Very low 3 · 3%Low 10 · 10.1%Moderate 7 · 7.1%High 0 · 0%

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) vs Other methods (pooled: ART/glass ionomer cement, nano-silver fluoride, sodium fluoride varnish, placebo)

Adverse effects (tooth staining and other side effects) · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)

SDF commonly causes black staining of arrested lesions; only mild, transient adverse events were reported, with no major adverse events (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) vs Nano-silver fluoride (NSF; with or without green tea extract)

Caries arrestment at the tooth level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)

Pooling two trials, SDF and nano-silver fluoride showed no significant difference in tooth-level caries arrestment (OR 1.47; ungraded subgroup).

1 finding from 1 review

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) vs Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) with glass ionomer cement (GIC) or glass ionomer material

Caries arrestment at the tooth level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)

Pooling two trials, SDF and ART/glass ionomer cement showed no clear difference in tooth-level caries arrestment (OR 1.22, wide CI; ungraded subgroup).

1 finding from 1 review

Resin infiltration vs CPP-ACFP

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Resin infiltration did not differ significantly from CPP-ACFP (SMD -0.52, 95% CI -1.16 to 0.12; indirect evidence only); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

P11-4 + fluoride varnish vs CPP-ACP

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

P11-4 plus fluoride varnish was significantly better than CPP-ACP (SMD -0.78, 95% CI -1.33 to -0.24; indirect evidence only); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Conventional orthodontic appliance treatment

Plaque · Orthodontic patients undergoing comprehensive treatment (late mixed or permanent dentition, no active caries)

In randomized trials, clear aligners probably reduce plaque accumulation versus fixed appliances, though the subgroup estimate is imprecise and its CI crosses no effect (SMD -1.79, 95% CI -3.63 to 0.04; moderate certainty).

6 findings from 1 review
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Resin infiltration vs Fluoride varnish

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Resin infiltration was significantly better than fluoride varnish (SMD -0.70, 95% CI -1.18 to -0.21); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Resin infiltration vs P11-4 + fluoride varnish

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Resin infiltration and P11-4 plus fluoride varnish did not differ significantly (SMD 0.01, 95% CI -0.62 to 0.65; indirect evidence only); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Conventional orthodontic appliance treatment

White spot lesion incidence · Orthodontic patients undergoing comprehensive treatment (late mixed or permanent dentition, no active caries)

Most studies reported a lower incidence of white spot lesions with clear aligners than fixed appliances, but heterogeneous assessment methods precluded meta-analysis (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

Resin infiltration vs Self-assembling peptide P11-4

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Resin infiltration did not differ significantly from P11-4 alone (SMD -0.39, 95% CI -0.97 to 0.20); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

P11-4 + fluoride varnish vs Fluoride varnish

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

P11-4 plus fluoride varnish was significantly better than fluoride varnish alone (SMD -0.71, 95% CI -1.13 to -0.29); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Resin infiltration vs CPP-ACP

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Resin infiltration was significantly better than CPP-ACP (SMD -0.77, 95% CI -1.31 to -0.23); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride varnish vs CPP-ACP

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Fluoride varnish did not differ significantly from CPP-ACP (SMD -0.07, 95% CI -0.44 to 0.29); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Conventional orthodontic appliance treatment

Severity of white spot lesions (surface area and depth) · Orthodontic patients undergoing comprehensive treatment (late mixed or permanent dentition, no active caries)

White spot lesion severity was assessed narratively in a small number of studies and not meta-analyzed; evidence is limited (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride varnish vs CPP-ACFP

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Fluoride varnish did not differ significantly from CPP-ACFP (SMD 0.18, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.64); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

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

Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Conventional orthodontic appliance treatment

Salivary caries-associated bacteria (S. mutans and Lactobacilli, subjects with >10^5 CFU/mL) · Orthodontic patients undergoing comprehensive treatment (late mixed or permanent dentition, no active caries)

Both included studies reported higher salivary caries-associated bacteria (S. mutans and Lactobacilli) with fixed appliances than clear aligners; not meta-analyzed (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

P11-4 + fluoride varnish vs CPP-ACFP

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

P11-4 plus fluoride varnish did not differ significantly from CPP-ACFP (SMD -0.54, 95% CI -1.15 to 0.08; indirect evidence only); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

P11-4 + fluoride varnish vs Self-assembling peptide P11-4

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

P11-4 plus fluoride varnish did not differ significantly from P11-4 alone (SMD -0.40, 95% CI -0.97 to 0.17; indirect evidence only); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review