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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,297 questions · 3,638 findings · 215 reviews · Oral Health

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No studies found 98 · 2.7%GRADE not reported 2,946 · 81%Very low 263 · 7.2%Low 158 · 4.3%Moderate 137 · 3.8%High 36 · 1%

Unemployment rate vs Not applicable

Oral health-related quality of life · people aged 60 years and older living in the community

No statistically significant difference in OHRQoL was reported by unemployment rate.

1 finding from 1 review

Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference)

Hip/femoral bone mineral density (BMD) · Females (all ages)

In females (low-to-moderate risk-of-bias studies), hip BMD rose monotonically above ~0.9 mg/L: MD 0.04 g/cm2 (95% CI -0.03-0.12) up to ~2.3 mg/L and 0.09 (-0.09-0.27) at 4.0 mg/L vs null; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review
  • The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure · General population; 37 observational studies (1944-2024), predominantly North America (USA, Canada) and Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden), plus UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Ethiopia; exposure mainly community drinking-water fluoride · Females, low-to-moderate risk-of-bias studies: up to ~2.3 mg/L vs null
    MD 0.04 [-0.03, 0.12]
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported
  • The association of fluoride exposure with bone density and fracture risk: a dose-response meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Long-term / lifetime fluoride exposure · General population; 37 observational studies (1944-2024), predominantly North America (USA, Canada) and Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden), plus UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Ethiopia; exposure mainly community drinking-water fluoride · Females, low-to-moderate risk-of-bias studies: 4.0 mg/L vs null
    MD 0.09 [-0.09, 0.27]
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Electronic cigarette use vs Non-smokers

Untreated dental caries and caries risk · Humans who use e-cigarettes (adolescents to adults) assessed for dental caries

Across individual cross-sectional studies, e-cigarette users tended to have more untreated caries and higher caries risk than non-smokers (per-study OR ~2.0-4.2), but results were not pooled (ungraded, narrative).

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 1: partial loss or fracture of the restoration

The intervention led to higher amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 1:…; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Ion-releasing restorations (IRR): RMGIC, HVGIC, GIC, compomer/PMRC, giomer vs Composite resin (CR), including bulk-fill composite

Absence of sensibility (post-operative sensitivity) · Children receiving dental restorations (aged 4-11 years; primary teeth; Class I/II/V cavities)

No significant difference between IRR and CR in post-operative sensitivity (high certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration

Amalgam: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 5: open margin · Dentists managing a defective direct amalgam restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of a 30-year-old,…

For a defective amalgam restoration with open margin, surveyed dentists most often preferred replacement over repair (pooled RR 5.14; p < 0.001); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Self-assembling/remineralizing peptide (e.g., P11-4, PAA-PASP) vs HEMA/EGDMA-based desensitizer

Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro)

In the Self-Etch adhesive + chemical ACAD protocol network, Peptide vs HEMA showed no significant difference in 24 h bond strength (MD -0.369, 95% CI -6.728 to 5.990; Low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) vs Reference standard

detection of occlusal caries · human primary or permanent teeth with dental caries lesions

QLF had pooled sensitivity of 0.86 and specificity of 0.80 for occlusal caries (permanent dentition, in vivo).

2 findings from 1 review

Health expenditure per capita vs Higher vs lower per-capita health expenditure categories

Oral health-related quality of life · people aged 60 years and older living in the community

OHRQoL did not differ significantly across per-capita health-expenditure categories; no pooled estimate was reported in the text (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

HEMA/EGDMA-based desensitizer vs Calcium phosphate agent (e.g., CPP-ACP, Ca/P-PILP, niobophosphate)

Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro)

In the Self-Etch adhesive + chemical ACAD protocol network, HEMA vs Calcium Phosphate showed no significant difference in 24 h bond strength (MD 0.360, 95% CI -5.589 to 6.309; Moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

School-based supervised toothbrushing (STB) vs no intervention

Caries increment on tooth surfaces (dmfs/DMFS) (prevented fraction) · Children in school or kindergarten settings (aged 3-14 years)

School-based supervised toothbrushing produces a small but statistically significant reduction in tooth-surface caries (DMFS/dmfs SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.42 to -0.01; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review