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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

821 questions · 993 findings · 80 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 60 · 6%GRADE not reported 749 · 75.4%Very low 109 · 11%Low 41 · 4.1%Moderate 34 · 3.4%High 0 · 0%

Ozone applied to the carious lesion (10 or 40 seconds), with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice vs No ozone, with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice (as in the intervention group)

Further conventional dental treatment (filling and drilling) (binary yes/no) · People of any age with caries (including demineralisation in non-cavitated carious lesions); the caries may affect any single tooth…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Ozone therapy for the treatment of dental caries 2004 · Cochrane All outcomes
    Data were not provided by any study on the number of lesions requiring restorations to 6 months or later; no data on any further conventional treatment or other dental interventions.
    Studies not reported
    No studies found

Ozone applied to the carious lesion (10 or 40 seconds), with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice vs No ozone, with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice (as in the intervention group)

Costs · People of any age with caries (including demineralisation in non-cavitated carious lesions); the caries may affect any single tooth…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review

Ozone applied to the carious lesion (10 or 40 seconds), with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice vs No ozone, with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice (as in the intervention group)

Pain (assessed by the patient) · People of any age with caries (including demineralisation in non-cavitated carious lesions); the caries may affect any single tooth…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review

Ozone applied to the carious lesion (10 or 40 seconds), with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice vs No ozone, with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice (as in the intervention group)

Caries progression/regression (clinical severity index, log(e) ECM and log(e) DIAGNOdent scores) · People of any age with caries (including demineralisation in non-cavitated carious lesions); the caries may affect any single tooth…
1 finding from 1 review
  • Ozone therapy for the treatment of dental caries 2004 · Cochrane All outcomes
    6 and 12 months
    No consistent trend of benefit or harm following ozone was seen across the outcome measures in any of the three studies; analyses were conducted at the lesion level (not independent of the person), so data were not…
    3 studies · 137 participants
    GRADE not reported

Ozone applied to the carious lesion (10 or 40 seconds), with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice vs No ozone, with a fluoride reductant and oral hygiene/preventive advice (as in the intervention group)

Time to intervention · People of any age with caries (including demineralisation in non-cavitated carious lesions); the caries may affect any single tooth…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review

Unfavourable oral hygiene and dietary habits (frequent sweet/sugar consumption; low toothbrushing frequency in early childhood) vs Favourable oral hygiene and dietary habits

Caries development in permanent teeth · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

Early-childhood oral hygiene and dietary habits show inconsistent associations with permanent-teeth caries, often losing significance after adjustment for past caries (2 studies; not pooled; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

E-cigarette aerosol / e-liquid exposure (flavored and unflavored; nicotine and non-nicotine) vs Unexposed controls / unflavored e-liquid / conventional cigarette smoke

Cariogenic and commensal oral bacteria (S. mutans and commensal streptococci growth, adhesion, biofilm) · Oral bacteria (streptococci), dental hard tissue (enamel/dentin) and e-liquids studied in vitro/ex vivo (with a few clinical microbiome…

Most in vitro studies indicate e-cigarette aerosol/e-liquid (especially flavored/high-concentration) disrupts normal oral flora and favors cariogenic S. mutans growth and biofilm, plausibly increasing caries risk; not pooled (ungraded, narrative).

1 finding from 1 review

Preterm birth (oral health / enamel defects) vs Full-term children

Caries (DMFT) and enamel defects · Preterm children (about 8 years old) in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai)

One study found preterm children had higher DMFT and a fourfold higher prevalence of enamel defects than full-term children (narrative synthesis; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Oral cytology (e.g. OralCDx brush biopsy, CytID) vs Reference standard: examination and clinical evaluation by a physician/clinician with specialist knowledge or training (long-term follow-up accepted for those screened negative)

Outcome not reported · Apparently healthy adults not reporting symptoms of OPMD or OSCC, attending an organised screening or surveillance programme, or screened…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review

Strategies to integrate oral health into primary care (e.g., training/education of non-dental primary care professionals, policy/financing and health-insurance changes, colocation of dental and medical services, interprofessional and community-health-worker collaboration, teledentistry, integrated oral health assessment tools, school-based activities)

Dental caries estimates · People receiving or providing primary care; all ages, ability types, and locations

Seven studies measured change in dental caries estimates.

1 finding from 1 review

Community and caregiver oral health education plus media campaign vs Pre-intervention BBTD rate

Baby bottle tooth decay prevalence · Alaska Native and American Indian Head Start children

High-intensity community education was associated with a 33% reduction in BBTD prevalence, without a GRADE rating.

3 findings from 1 review

Community and caregiver oral health education plus media campaign vs Pre-intervention BBTD rate

Baby bottle tooth decay prevalence · Alaska Native Head Start children

The Alaska Native site had a 20% increase in BBTD prevalence, without a GRADE rating.

1 finding from 1 review

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

Inter-examiner reliability · Children and adults with primary or permanent dentition

Inter-examiner kappa statistics ranged from 0.44 to 0.91 across 13 studies; no meta-analysis or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

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

Positive predictive value for dental caries diagnosis · Children and adults with primary or permanent dentition

Positive predictive values were reported in 10 of the 13 studies that reported sensitivity and specificity; no meta-analysis or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

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

Negative predictive value for dental caries diagnosis · Children and adults with primary or permanent dentition

Negative predictive values were reported in 10 of the 13 studies that reported sensitivity and specificity; no meta-analysis or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

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

Intra-examiner reliability · Children and adults with primary or permanent dentition

Intra-examiner kappa statistics ranged from 0.52 to 1.00 across 6 studies; no meta-analysis or GRADE rating was reported.

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

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

d/D dft/DFT or dmft/DMFT score differences · Children and adults with primary or permanent dentition

Eight studies calculated caries-score differences; six reported no significant difference, one underestimation, and one overestimation with teledentistry.

1 finding from 1 review

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

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

Specificity ranged from 83% to 100% across 13 studies; no meta-analysis or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Non-syndromic cleft lip and palate (CLP) status and its oral microbiota (exposure/grouping) vs Children and adolescents aged 0-18 years without CLP (controls)

Dental caries · Children and adolescents aged 0-18 years with non-syndromic cleft lip and palate (CLP)

Pooling 3 studies, children/adolescents with CLP were about 2.03 times more likely to have dental caries than non-CLP controls (p<0.005; low heterogeneity), though most included studies were at high risk of bias; the evidence is ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review