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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,745 questions · 4,389 findings · 203 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 39 · 0.9%GRADE not reported 3,844 · 87.6%Very low 198 · 4.5%Low 137 · 3.1%Moderate 134 · 3.1%High 37 · 0.8%

Probiotics vs placebo or control

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

Probiotics may make little to no difference to the bacterial plaque index versus control (MD 0.21, 95%CI -0.55 to 0.96; very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) vs Nano-silver fluoride (NSF; with or without green tea extract)

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

Pooling two trials, SDF and nano-silver fluoride showed no significant difference in tooth-level caries arrestment (OR 1.47; ungraded subgroup).

1 finding from 1 review

Teledentistry diagnosis using DSLR or smartphone extra-oral photographs vs Visual or clinical examination

Sensitivity for dental caries diagnosis · Children and adults with primary or permanent dentition

Sensitivity ranged from 48% to 98.3% across 13 studies; no meta-analysis or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

AA+GG (homozygous) genotypes vs AG (heterozygous) genotype

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

FokI(rs2228570) over-dominant model: AA+GG vs AG was not significantly associated with dental caries (OR 1.04); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Clearfil Protect Bond antibacterial fluoride-releasing primer vs Conventional/control orthodontic adhesive (e.g., Transbond XT) or negative control

White spot lesion rate and volume · Orthodontic patients of any age with fixed braces (new DLs assessed at debond)

Clearfil Protect Bond showed no WSL-rate difference versus conventional adhesive, with certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Transbond XT with 1% chitosan and 1% TiO2 nanoparticles vs Conventional/control orthodontic adhesive (e.g., Transbond XT) or negative control

Enamel mineral content · Orthodontic patients of any age with fixed braces (new DLs assessed at debond)

Chitosan and TiO2 adhesive showed no enamel mineral-content difference, with certainty not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Prenatal vitamin D level ≤35 nmol/L vs Adequate prenatal vitamin D (sufficient maternal 25(OH)D)

Dental caries · Children aged 2 to 8 years

The review reported a slightly higher odds ratio at maternal prenatal vitamin D ≤35 nmol/L than at ≤50 nmol/L, without a numeric value in the available sources.

1 finding from 1 review

Slum / urban-disadvantaged setting vs Non-slum urban setting

Self-perceived (self-rated) oral health status · Adult residents of slums and non-slum urban settings of LMICs

Most participants reported positive perceptions of oral health, despite observed disease burden.

1 finding from 1 review

Experimental adhesive containing ammonium-based methacrylate monomer (MADQUAT) vs Conventional/control orthodontic adhesive (e.g., Transbond XT) or negative control

Enamel remineralization / carious lesion development · Human enamel specimens around orthodontic brackets (in vitro)

In vitro, an ammonium-based methacrylate-containing adhesive showed significant remineralization/anti-demineralization versus control in a single study (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Overweight/obesity (combined) vs Normal Weight or Non‐Obese

Dental caries prevalence · Brazilian children in primary dentition (BMI classified by CDC 2000 growth charts)

The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of overweight/obesity on caries odds in the primary dentition (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Cranberry extract / juice and proanthocyanidin (flavonoid) fractions vs Untreated or vehicle control (some studies vs positive antimicrobial controls, e.g. chlorhexidine/fluoride)

Cell death / cytotoxicity induction · Streptococcus mutans (in vitro cultures and biofilms)

One study reported time-dependent cell-death induction (50% at 10 h) with cranberry extract (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Gene sequencing (GS) applied to diagnose/manage oral conditions (predominantly 16S rRNA next-generation sequencing of the oral microbiome; also genome-wide/whole-genome sequencing) vs Negligible ('abysmal') effect of gene sequencing; no separate comparator arm (within-sample event contrast in the forest plots)

Reduction in occurrence of oral conditions · Human patients (any age) with oral-cavity related disorders (e.g. dental caries, periodontitis, gingivitis, peri-implant mucositis,…

Pooled across 8 clinical trials, gene sequencing was associated with a statistically significant risk difference for impact on oral-cavity disorders (RD -0.29, 95% CI -0.32 to -0.26); certainty not GRADE-rated.

1 finding from 1 review

Er:YAG laser irradiation of enamel after demineralisation vs No anticaries intervention (untreated enamel)

Enamel surface microhardness · Demineralised / white-spot-lesion enamel (in vitro specimens)

In demineralised enamel, Er:YAG laser irradiation did not significantly change surface microhardness versus untreated control (SMD 0.66, 95% CI -1.12 to 2.44; 2 in vitro studies; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Cranberry extract or cranberry flavonoid fractions vs No extract or vehicle control; other antimicrobial agents

Biofilm morphology or biomass · Streptococcus mutans (in vitro cultures and biofilms)

No meta-analysis was conducted; four included studies reported disrupted biofilm structure or reduced biomass with cranberry extract or fractions.

1 finding from 1 review

History of toothache vs No history of toothache

Dental caries · Primary school children in Ethiopia

A history of toothache was associated with higher odds of dental caries (OR 2.99, 95% CI 2.679-3.314; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review