Caries arrestment at the surface level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
SDF probably makes little to no difference to surface-level caries arrestment versus other methods (moderate certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Intervention not reported
Decayed surfaces (DS)
The intervention led to higher decayed surfaces (DS); GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Enamel surface microhardness · Demineralised / white-spot-lesion enamel (in vitro specimens)
In demineralised enamel, Er:YAG laser irradiation did not significantly change surface microhardness versus untreated control (SMD 0.66, 95% CI -1.12 to 2.44; 2 in vitro studies; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Intervention not reported
Decayed, missing, filled surfaces (DMFS)
The intervention led to higher decayed, missing, filled surfaces (DMFS); GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Prevalence of ICLs (proportion of tooth surfaces affected) · Patients (permanent dentition) during or after fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances
About 22% of tooth surfaces showed ICLs during/after fixed orthodontic treatment (pooled 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33; very low certainty; extreme heterogeneity).
1 finding from 1 review
new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries
SDF had a 62% preventative fraction; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries
SDF plus potassium iodide had a 52% preventative fraction; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries
SDF plus oral health education had a 33% preventative fraction at 24 months; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
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
new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · Older adults with root caries in permanent (mature) teeth (mean age 75 years)
SDF had a 71% preventative fraction at 36 months; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries
SDF had a 28% preventative fraction at 24 months; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
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
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
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
Intervention not reported
Mean number of arrested caries surfaces
1 finding from 1 review
Caries incidence of occlusal surfaces of first permanent molars · Generally healthy children aged 6 to 9 years with at least one fully erupted first permanent molar with deep fissures or early enamel…
After excluding Bravo 1996, occlusal caries incidence slightly favored fluoride varnish but was not significant, with heterogeneity falling to 0% (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.16; 3 RCTs; ungraded).
2 findings from 1 review
Dental caries measures other than pooled DMFT (DMFS, decayed/filled surfaces and teeth, root caries, nonvisible lesions, white spots) · General population (children and adults) assessed for dental hard-tissue health
Evidence on other dental-caries measures was inconsistent: some indices (decayed surfaces/teeth, root caries, white spots) were higher in vegetarians while some studies found lower caries in vegetarian children (ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Increment of occlusal DMFS (decayed, missing, filled surfaces) of FPMs · Generally healthy children aged 6 to 9 years with at least one fully erupted first permanent molar with deep fissures or early enamel…
Fluoride varnish and fissure sealant did not differ significantly in occlusal DMFS increment of FPMs (MD 0.13, 95% CI -0.09 to 0.34; 3 RCTs; ungraded).
2 findings from 1 review
Enamel surface microhardness · Extracted human teeth with early/artificial enamel lesions (in vitro)
In vitro, CPP-ACP increased Vickers microhardness versus control (SMD 1.19, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.66; ungraded).
3 findings from 1 review
SMD 1.19 [0.72, 1.66]
5 studies · 106 participants
GRADE not reported
SMD 2.07 [1.24, 2.89]
8 studies · 170 participants
GRADE not reported
SMD 3.52 [2.68, 4.36]
3 studies · 64 participants
GRADE not reported
Arrest of dentine caries · Preschool children with active dentine caries in primary teeth (mean age 3.4-4.0 years)
Silver diamine fluoride was about 2.5 times more likely than sodium fluoride to arrest dentine caries surfaces at 18 months (pooled OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.25 to 5.10; 2 RCTs), although between-study heterogeneity was high (I2=90.3%); certainty of evidence was not formally graded.
2 findings from 1 review