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
Diagnostic accuracy on surfaces with pit and fissure sealants · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries · Dentate adults (aged 18 years and older) receiving dental check-ups in UK general dental practices (regular attenders)
Clinical examination with 24-month recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: number of tooth surfaces with any caries (ICDAS 1-6) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (moderate certainty).
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
Incidence of dentinal carious lesion on treated occlusal surfaces of molars or premolars (yes/no) · Children and adolescents (general population, aged under 20 years)
It is very uncertain whether resin-based fissure sealant (visible-light-polymerized) changes incidence of dentinal carious lesion on treated occlusal surfaces of… compared with fluoride varnish (very low certainty).
2 findings 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
Change in DMF increment on occlusal surfaces of first permanent molars · Children and adolescents (general population, aged under 20 years)
Resin-modified glass ionomer fissure sealant plus oral health… showed no clear difference in change in DMF increment on occlusal surfaces of first permanent molars compared with fluoride varnish plus oral health education; GRADE not reported.
2 findings from 1 review
MD 0.07 [-0.03, 0.17]
1 study
GRADE not reported
MD 0.23 [0.02, 0.44]
1 study
GRADE not reported
Dental caries · Dentate adults (aged 18 years and older) receiving dental check-ups in UK general dental practices (regular attenders)
Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: number of tooth surfaces with any caries (ICDAS 1-6) compared with clinical examination with 6-month recall (high certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Change in DMFS (decayed, missing and filled permanent surfaces) increment · Children and adolescents (general population, aged under 20 years)
Resin-based fissure sealant led to lower change in DMFS (decayed, missing and filled permanent surfaces)… compared with fluoride varnish; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) by subgroup: Smooth or secondary-caries surfaces (detection of early enamel caries, D1 threshold) · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review
Dental caries · Dentate adults (aged 18 years and older) receiving dental check-ups in UK general dental practices (regular attenders)
Clinical examination with risk-based recall showed no clear difference in dental caries: number of tooth surfaces with any caries (ICDAS 1-6) compared with clinical examination with 24-month recall (moderate certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) by subgroup: Proximal surfaces (detection of early enamel caries, D1 threshold) · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review
Diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) by subgroup: Occlusal surfaces (detection of early enamel caries, D1 threshold) · Asymptomatic children, adolescents, or adults presenting for clinical examination (in vivo studies), or extracted teeth of children or…
1 finding from 1 review