Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,745 questions · 4,389 findings · 203 reviews · Oral Health

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%

Periodontal disease assessed by Community Periodontal Index (CPI) vs Individuals without periodontal disease (by CPI)

Oral health-related quality of life · Indian adults and elderly (general, police, teachers, institutionalised)

Evidence on periodontal disease (CPI) and OHRQoL is inconsistent across studies (very low certainty).

3 findings from 1 review

Gingivitis (assessed by gingival index or WHO criteria) vs Individuals without gingivitis

Oral health-related quality of life · Indians

Continuous analyses (GOHAI, OHIP-14) of gingivitis and OHRQoL were inconsistent and mostly non-significant; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Fluoride mouthwash vs Blank control

Plaque · People undergoing orthodontic treatment (any age; 9 to 34 years in included studies)

Long-term fluoride mouthwash showed mixed plaque-index effects, with very low-certainty evidence.

2 findings from 1 review

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) vs Calcium hydroxide (CH)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Patients with carious pulp exposure in immature permanent teeth

The effect of MTA versus CH in immature teeth is very uncertain (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Indirect restorations (crowns, fixed partial dentures, inlays/onlays/veneers) vs None (single-group incidence)

Periapical pathosis · Vital teeth restored with indirect restorations

Periapical pathosis incidence among follow-up >5-10 years was 3.88% (subgroup analysis; not GRADE-rated).

6 findings from 1 review
Show 3 more findings

Resin infiltration vs Placebo or no active treatment

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Resin infiltration significantly improved remineralization versus control (SMD -0.94, 95% CI -1.46 to -0.43), ranking second of seven therapies by SUCRA (88.7%); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Dental caries vs Absence/lower severity of dental caries

Oral health-related quality of life · Adolescents (10-19 years)

Dental caries is associated with worse OHRQoL in adolescents, with greater severity linked to greater impact (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Oral-health-related quality of life in adolescents: umbrella review. 2023 All outcomes
    Community/school/clinic settings; adolescents 10-19 years; included reviews conducted in multiple countries
    The impact of dental caries on OHRQoL was addressed in five systematic reviews [9, 26, 34, 36, 37]. Three articles report that the greater the severity of the carious lesion, the worse the impact on OHRQoL in…
    5 studies
    GRADE not reported

Female sex vs Male sex

Oral health-related quality of life · Adolescents (10-19 years)

The abstract reports female sex is associated with worse OHRQoL, but the conclusion states the impact of gender was not clarified (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

2 findings from 1 review

Carious dentin vs Sound dentin

MMP-13 presence/activity · Human ex vivo carious dentin (mostly coronal), natural caries lesions

MMP-13 may be increased in carious dentin compared with sound dentin, but the evidence is very uncertain (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Early childhood caries / severe early childhood caries vs Caries-free controls

Stunting · Children aged ≤6 years (early childhood)

One Nepalese cross-sectional study found caries severity significantly correlated with chronic malnutrition/stunting (HAZ; p<0.0001), especially in rural children; ungraded, no effect size reported.

3 findings from 1 review

Dental caries vs Caries-free controls

Oral health-related quality of life · Indian children aged 3-5 years

In children aged 3-5 years, early childhood caries was significantly associated with poorer OHRQoL (narrative; 3 studies); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride varnish vs CPP-ACP

Remineralization / reduction in lesion severity (change in QLF, laser fluorescence, or lesion area) · Patients with white spot lesions / early caries lesions (WSLs/ECLs), including orthodontic and non-orthodontic lesions, active caries…

Fluoride varnish did not differ significantly from CPP-ACP (SMD -0.07, 95% CI -0.44 to 0.29); certainty of evidence not assessed (no GRADE).

1 finding from 1 review

Dental caries assessment (WHO/clinical diagnostic criteria; caries = DMFT>0) vs Caries-free status

CA VI concentration · Individuals assessed for dental caries (mainly children aged 2-9 years; one study in adults aged 18-24 years)

Salivary CA VI concentration is significantly lower in individuals with dental caries than in caries-free individuals (SMD -0.672, 95% CI -1.011 to -0.332; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride mouthwash vs Blank control

Cariogenic bacteria (Lactobacilli colony count) · Orthodontic patients (any age) undergoing orthodontic treatment (mostly fixed appliances)

Long-term (>=12 months) fluoride mouthwash may make little or no difference to Lactobacilli colony counts versus blank control (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Gum chewing (sugar-free) vs Within-subject before/after comparison of soft gum vs hard gum (no no-gum control)

Oral mucosal moisture · Elderly (>60 years) and medically compromised adults with xerostomia / dry mouth

One small study found that chewing hard (but not soft) gum increased oral mucosal moisture.

1 finding from 1 review

38% silver diamine fluoride vs Glass ionomer cement (GIC) plus fluoride varnish

Caries prevention (preventive fraction, SDF vs GIC+5% fluoride varnish) · intellectually disabled individuals with caries in permanent posterior teeth

SDF had a 45% preventative fraction versus glass ionomer cement plus fluoride varnish; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Dental caries vs Caries-free status

CA VI activity · Individuals assessed for dental caries (cases with caries/high caries vs. caries-free or low/very-low-caries controls)

CA VI activity was higher in participants with caries (SMD 0.87, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.36; 7 studies, 411 participants); GRADE was not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

38% SDF plus oral health education vs oral health instruction plus water

new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries

SDF plus oral health education had a 33% preventative fraction at 24 months; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review