Duration and time of healing of intraoral (oral) lesions; number of individuals with oral lesions · Children and young adults under 25 years with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis (with or without herpes labialis)
Systemic oral acyclovir led to lower number of individuals with oral lesions (8 days after… compared with placebo or no treatment; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Duration and time of healing of extraoral lesions; development of new extraoral lesions · Children and young adults under 25 years with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis (with or without herpes labialis)
Systemic oral acyclovir led to lower number of individuals who developed new extraoral lesions after… compared with placebo or no treatment; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Number of individuals with eating difficulties (8 days after administration); duration of eating difficulties · Children and young adults under 25 years with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis (with or without herpes labialis)
Systemic oral acyclovir led to lower number of individuals with eating difficulties (8 days after… compared with placebo or no treatment; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Difficulty in drinking (number with drinking difficulties) · Children and young adults under 25 years with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis (with or without herpes labialis)
Systemic oral acyclovir led to lower number of individuals with drinking difficulties (8 days after… compared with placebo or no treatment; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Number of individuals admitted to hospital after administration · Children and young adults under 25 years with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis (with or without herpes labialis)
Systemic oral acyclovir showed no clear difference in number of individuals admitted to hospital after administration compared with placebo or no treatment; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
CA VI concentration · Individuals assessed for dental caries (mainly children aged 2-9 years; one study in adults aged 18-24 years)
Salivary CA VI concentration is significantly lower in individuals with dental caries than in caries-free individuals (SMD -0.672, 95% CI -1.011 to -0.332; not GRADE-rated).
1 finding from 1 review
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
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
Percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP) · Patients with anorexia nervosa aged >=12 years (mean age ~18.4; entirely female in reported data), general community-dwelling population
Anorexia nervosa is associated with significantly increased bleeding on probing versus healthy controls (MD 16.57%, 95% CI 12.89 to 20.25; low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Gingival index (GI) · Individuals assessed for periodontal health (mainly children and adolescents, age >2 years)
Persons with orofacial cleft have a higher gingival index than healthy controls (MD 0.15, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.19; low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)
In cross-sectional studies, children and adolescents with HIV on antiretroviral therapy had about twice the odds of dental caries versus HIV-negative peers (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.21 to 3.42; very low certainty).
3 findings from 1 review
Association between antiretroviral therapy and dental caries in children and adolescents with HIV: a systematic review… 2025 All outcomesNot specified (cross-sectional) · Dental examination of children/adolescents with HIV in clinic and community settings; low- and middle-income countries (Brazil, India, Nigeria, Cambodia, Uganda, West Africa) · Cross-sectional studies
OR 2.04 [1.21, 3.42]
6 studies · 2206 participants
Very low
Association between antiretroviral therapy and dental caries in children and adolescents with HIV: a systematic review… 2025 All outcomesNot specified (case-control) · Dental examination of children/adolescents with HIV in clinic and community settings; low- and middle-income countries (Brazil, India, Nigeria, Cambodia, Uganda, West Africa) · Case-control studies
OR 3.15 [0.98, 10.15]
1 study · 99 participants
Very low
Association between antiretroviral therapy and dental caries in children and adolescents with HIV: a systematic review… 2025 All outcomesProspective follow-up (single cohort) · Dental examination of children/adolescents with HIV in clinic and community settings; low- and middle-income countries (Brazil, India, Nigeria, Cambodia, Uganda, West Africa) · Cohort studies
OR 2.11 [1.41, 3.17]
1 study · 544 participants
Very low
Relative abundance of S. mutans in saliva · Individuals assessed for dental caries, predominantly children with early childhood caries (ECC) or severe ECC (age about 1 to 4 years)
A few small studies report Streptococcus mutans relative abundance in caries versus caries-free children without pooling; the evidence is ungraded and not meta-analyzed.
1 finding from 1 review
Caries in primary teeth: dmft (3 years) · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)
In cross-sectional studies, the dmft (primary dentition) index did not differ significantly between HIV+ children on ART and HIV-negative peers (MD 0.92, 95% CI -0.09 to 1.93; very low certainty).
2 findings from 1 review
Dental caries severity (dmfs index, primary dentition) · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)
In case-control studies, HIV+ children on ART had a significantly higher dmfs index than HIV-negative peers (MD 5.15, 95% CI 2.20 to 8.11; not separately GRADE-rated).
2 findings from 1 review
Dental caries in permanent teeth · Children and adolescents (<18 years) living with HIV (CLWH)
In cross-sectional studies, the DMFT index did not differ significantly between HIV+ children on ART and HIV-negative peers (MD 0.60, 95% CI -0.53 to 1.72; very low certainty).
2 findings from 1 review
Clinical attachment level (CAL) · Individuals assessed for periodontal health (mainly children and adolescents, age >2 years)
Clinical attachment level loss is greater in persons with orofacial cleft than in healthy controls (p<0.00001), but no pooled effect size was reported (ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Relative abundance of S. mutans in saliva · Systemically healthy individuals (children and adults, aged 40 months to 50 years) assessed for dental caries
The relative abundance of S. mutans in saliva is significantly higher in caries-active than caries-free individuals (pooled SMD 1.48, 95% CI 0.45 to 2.50), but heterogeneity is very high (I2=90%); ungraded.
1 finding from 1 review
Salivary flow rate (stimulated) · Patients with anorexia nervosa aged >=12 years (mean age ~18.4; entirely female in reported data), general community-dwelling population
Stimulated salivary flow rate was significantly lower in anorexia nervosa patients than controls, but only unstimulated flow was meta-analyzed; this outcome is ungraded.
1 finding from 1 review
Salivary pH · Patients with anorexia nervosa aged >=12 years (mean age ~18.4; entirely female in reported data), general community-dwelling population
Anorexia nervosa is associated with significantly lower salivary pH than healthy controls (MD -0.39, 95% CI -0.54 to -0.24; low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Oral microbial community composition and diversity (other caries-associated taxa; alpha- and beta-diversity) · Systemically healthy individuals (children and adults, aged 40 months to 50 years) assessed for dental caries
No oral microbial taxon other than S. mutans was consistently associated with caries; alpha-diversity mostly did not differ between caries-active and caries-free groups and beta-diversity findings were mixed (ungraded, narrative).
1 finding from 1 review