Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

1,954 questions · 2,335 findings · 149 reviews · All outcomes

No studies found 436 · 18.7%GRADE not reported 1,370 · 58.7%Very low 254 · 10.9%Low 173 · 7.4%Moderate 80 · 3.4%High 22 · 0.9%

Periodontal treatment (subgingival instrumentation, with or without antimicrobials/surgery) vs usual care or no treatment

Probing pocket depth (PPD/PD) · People with diabetes mellitus (type 1 or type 2, mostly type 2) and periodontitis, at least 16 years of age

Periodontal treatment (subgingival instrumentation, with or without… led to lower probing pocket depth (PPD/PD) compared with no active intervention/usual care; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Mindfulness plus medication vs Medication alone

Patient‐reported pain intensity or pain relief (VAS, NRS or categorical scale) · People aged 12 years and over with painful TMD lasting 3 months or longer
1 finding from 1 review

Single-visit root canal treatment vs Multiple-visit root canal treatment (two or more visits)

Analgesic (painkiller) use · People aged 10 years or above requiring root canal treatment; permanent teeth with completely formed apex and without internal resorption

It is very uncertain whether single-visit root canal treatment changes analgesic (painkiller) use compared with multiple-visit root canal treatment (two or more visits) (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Enamel caries quantification (DeS/DeT within total D(M)FS/D(M)FT) vs None (descriptive prevalence review; subgroup analyses by urban/rural status, country and year)

Enamel caries proportion · European adolescents aged 12–19 years

Enamel caries made up about half of total caries experience (pooled proportion 0.50, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.65; 7 studies; higher in 12–15 than 16–19-year-olds; not GRADE-rated).

3 findings from 1 review

Behaviour change / oral health promotion interventions delivered by non-dental professionals and health workers (nurses, midwives, health visitors, community health workers) vs control (no intervention/usual care/isotonic exercise)

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

Glass ionomer-based sealant vs No sealant (control/no treatment)

Retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) · Children with caries-free primary first molars (with or without caries on other teeth), aged 1-5 years (paediatric clinic/dental school,…
1 finding from 1 review
  • Sealants for preventing dental caries in primary teeth 2022 · Cochrane All outcomes
    6-30 months
    Chadwick 2005: one or more sealants fully/partially retained in 69 (31.2%) children at 12-30 months; Joshi 2019: at 12 months 75 (43.6%) teeth completely retained, 58 (33.7%) partially retained, 39 (22.7%) completely…
    2 studies
    GRADE not reported

Single-visit root canal treatment vs Multiple-visit root canal treatment (two or more visits)

Pain at two weeks (postobturation) · People aged 10 years or above requiring root canal treatment; permanent teeth with completely formed apex and without internal resorption

Single-visit root canal treatment showed no clear difference in pain at two weeks (postobturation) compared with multiple-visit root canal treatment (two or more visits); GRADE not reported.

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 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

Autopolymerised sealant vs Light polymerised sealant

Retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) · Children with sound primary molars, aged 2-4 years (municipal dental clinics or hospital paediatric clinics, Denmark)

It is very uncertain whether autopolymerised sealant changes retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) compared with light polymerised sealant (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride-releasing resin-based sealant vs No sealant (control/no treatment)

Retention of sealant (complete or partial retention) · Children with caries-free or non-cavitated carious lesion primary molars, aged 3-7 years (paediatric department, dental hospital, France)
1 finding from 1 review
  • Sealants for preventing dental caries in primary teeth 2022 · Cochrane All outcomes
    12-24 months
    At 12 months, sealants on 96 (70.1%) surfaces completely retained, 25 (18.3%) partially retained, 16 (11.6%) completely lost; at 24 months, 58 (45.3%) completely retained, 29 (22.7%) partially retained, 41 (32%)…
    1 study
    GRADE not reported

Criteria-based screening with specific (personalised) referral letter vs Criteria-based screening with non-specific referral letter

Dental attendance at orthodontist · School children, secondary school in the UK (aged 11 to 13 years)

It is very uncertain whether criteria-based screening with specific (personalised) referral letter changes dental attendance at orthodontist compared with criteria-based screening with non-specific referral letter (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

CBT vs inactive control (usual care care, attention control, waitlist)

Reduction in pain intensity · People aged 12 years and over with painful TMD lasting 3 months or longer

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may leads to lower pain intensity at follow-up (12 months) compared with usual care, waiting list or no treatment (control) (low certainty).

2 findings from 1 review