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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,066 questions · 3,346 findings · 178 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 48 · 1.4%GRADE not reported 2,789 · 83.4%Very low 208 · 6.2%Low 129 · 3.9%Moderate 136 · 4.1%High 36 · 1.1%

Milk-based probiotic vs placebo or control

Plaque index (PI) / oral hygiene · Children and/or adolescents (<18 years) without background systemic disease

In a subgroup analysis, milk-based probiotics reduced the bacterial plaque index more than other presentations (MD -0.10, 95%CI -0.20 to -0.00; p-interaction=0.01); not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

G allele vs A allele

Dental caries · Children (<18 years) with vs without dental caries

BsmI(rs1544410) allele distribution (G vs A) was not significantly associated with caries (OR 1.56; high heterogeneity); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) vs Fluoride varnish

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

Pooling two highly heterogeneous trials, SDF showed no significant difference versus 5% sodium fluoride varnish in surface-level caries arrestment (OR 1.46; ungraded subgroup).

1 finding from 1 review

Extraction of a maxillary first permanent molar vs Extraction of a mandibular permanent first molar

Spontaneous space closure · Children and adolescents after extraction of a mandibular permanent first molar (before eruption of the second molar)

Spontaneous space closure is much more likely in the maxilla than the mandible (OR 7.77; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral cancer patients (cases) vs Healthy controls

Probing pocket depth · Adults in case-control studies (oral cancer patients vs healthy controls)

Periodontal pocket depth did not differ significantly between oral cancer patients and controls (SMD 1.64, 95% CI -0.20 to 3.47; very high heterogeneity); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

CC genotype vs CA+AA genotypes

Dental caries · Children (<18 years) with vs without dental caries

ApaI(rs7975232) recessive model: CC vs CA+AA was not significantly associated with dental caries (OR 0.87); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Breastfeeding <24 months vs Breastfeeding for ≥24 months

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Preschool children (<6 years)

After excluding Peres et al. (2017), breastfeeding for less than 24 months was associated with fewer caries (RR 0.49, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.62; I²=6%).

2 findings from 1 review

Fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances (exposure) vs None (single-group prevalence/incidence estimate)

Incidence of new ICLs (proportion of tooth surfaces developing new lesions) · Patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment with fixed (multibracket) appliances, followed for development of new ICLs

About 15% of tooth surfaces developed new ICLs during fixed orthodontic treatment (pooled 0.15, 95% CI 0.08-0.26; very low certainty; extreme heterogeneity).

1 finding from 1 review

Breastfeeding vs No breastfeeding

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Preschool children (<6 years)

After excluding five studies, breastfeeding was associated with lower ECC risk in cohort studies (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.95; I²=0%).

3 findings from 1 review

Xylitol (low-intensity sweetener/sugar alcohol) in food products (chewing gum, milk, candy, or tablets) vs Sorbitol (low-intensity sweetener)

Change in Mutans streptococci (MS) count in saliva · healthy people

Xylitol and sorbitol did not differ significantly for Mutans streptococci in saliva (SMD -0.16, 95% CI -0.44 to 0.12; 2 trials, P=.25); not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

T allele vs G allele

Dental caries · Children (<18 years) with vs without dental caries

TaqI/BglI(rs739837) allelic model: T vs G was not significantly associated with dental caries (OR 1.00); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

T allele vs C allele

Dental caries · Children (<18 years) with vs without dental caries

In the Permanent dentition subgroup, TaqI(rs731236) allelic model: T vs C showed no significant association with caries (OR 0.90); ungraded.

8 findings from 1 review
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Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Regular toothbrushing usage (prevalence) · Children (<18 years) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in India

About 91% of children with IDD in India use a toothbrush regularly (pooled prevalence 0.91, 95% CI 0.80-0.96; high heterogeneity; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review