Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

516 questions · 950 findings · 74 reviews · Dental caries

No studies found 35 · 3.7%GRADE not reported 831 · 87.5%Very low 38 · 4%Low 26 · 2.7%Moderate 13 · 1.4%High 7 · 0.7%

Low periodontal-disease prevalence 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 periodontal-disease prevalence.

1 finding from 1 review

Flowable bulk-fill composite resin vs Light-cured compomer (polyacid-modified composite resin)

Restoration failure · Children with carious primary teeth

No comparative effect estimate was reported; both arms had 0% failure.

1 finding from 1 review

CD4+ T-cell count below 250 cells/mm3

HIV-related oral lesions · Children living with HIV receiving ART

One reported study did not show a clear difference in HIV-related oral lesions for children with CD4+ T-cell counts below 250 cells/mm3.

2 findings from 1 review

Low parental socioeconomic status (SES) vs High parental socioeconomic status (SES)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Healthy children under 6 years in South Africa

No significant difference in caries odds was found between children of low- versus high-SES parents (meta-analysis reported no difference; pooled estimate in an unavailable supplementary figure; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Low dose rate interstitial radiotherapy vs High dose rate interstitial radiotherapy

Locoregional control · People with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (ICD-O C01-C06) or oropharynx (ICD-O C09-C10); head and neck cancer trials…

Low dose rate interstitial radiotherapy showed no clear difference in locoregional control compared with high dose rate interstitial radiotherapy; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Lower family socioeconomic status / income vs Higher socioeconomic position

Dental caries · Healthy children and adolescents in the United Arab Emirates

Evidence on socioeconomic status/income and caries was inconsistent: some studies linked lower income to higher caries while others found no association (narrative synthesis; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Low tooth brushing frequency (<2 times/day) vs High tooth brushing frequency (>=2 times/day)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Healthy children under 6 years of age (6 months to 6 years); preschool children

After excluding an extreme outlier (Alhabdan 2018), the association between low brushing frequency and ECC remained statistically significant (pooled OR approximately 2.0, p=0.003; I2=87.5%); the exact estimate and its CI were not reported; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Lower parental (maternal/paternal) education vs Higher parental education

Dental caries · Healthy children and adolescents in the United Arab Emirates

The association between parental education and caries was inconsistent; father's (but not consistently mother's) education was inversely associated with caries in some studies (narrative synthesis; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Low maternal education (<=6 years of schooling) vs Higher maternal education (>6 years)

Poor oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) · Children aged 3-12 years

Lower maternal education was associated with poor OHRQoL (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.00-1.23; 4 studies; high heterogeneity; CI lower bound at the null; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride toothpaste 440 ppm (lower concentration) vs 1450 to 1500 ppm F toothpaste

Fluorosis (percentage prevalence in permanent teeth) · Children exposed to topical fluoride when under 6 years old; fluorosis assessed in permanent teeth at 6 to 18 years

Fluoride toothpaste 440 ppm (lower concentration) probably leads to lower fluorosis (percentage prevalence in permanent teeth) compared with fluoride toothpaste 1450 ppm (higher concentration) (moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride toothpaste 550 ppm (lower concentration) vs Fluoride toothpaste 1000 ppm or more (higher concentration)

Fluorosis (percentage prevalence in permanent teeth) · Children exposed to topical fluoride when under 6 years old; fluorosis assessed in permanent teeth at 6 to 18 years

Fluoride toothpaste 550 ppm (lower concentration) probably leads to lower fluorosis (percentage prevalence in permanent teeth) compared with fluoride toothpaste 1000 ppm (higher concentration) (moderate certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Low-power CO2 laser irradiation (LLLT, 0.5 to 2 W) vs Placebo (placebo laser or placebo agent) or no treatment

White spot lesion incidence · High caries-risk patients: fixed-orthodontic-appliance patients and children with partially erupted permanent molars

Low-power CO2 laser (LLLT) is associated with a lower incidence of new white spot lesions than placebo (OR 0.21, CI 0.15 to 0.30; ungraded, 3 RCTs, considerable heterogeneity I2=71%).

1 finding from 1 review

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) + calcium hydroxide vs Calcium hydroxide (CH)

Radiological failure · Children with extensive decay involving the dental pulp in primary teeth

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) + calcium hydroxide showed no clear difference in radiological failure compared with calcium hydroxide (CH); GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review