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%

Fluoride varnish vs Placebo varnish, resin sealant, or standard care (oral hygiene instructions)

Prevalence of white spot lesions (WSL) at debonding, subject level · Healthy adolescents and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment with fixed multi-bracket appliances

Fluoride varnish applied regularly during fixed orthodontic treatment may reduce the prevalence of white spot lesions at debonding (pooled RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.98), but the certainty of evidence is very low.

1 finding from 1 review

Higher family income / socioeconomic status vs Lower income / worse socioeconomic status

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

Higher family income / better socioeconomic status is associated with better OHRQoL in adolescents (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
    Adolescents from families with higher incomes and higher levels of maternal education have better OHRQoL scores [34]. Worse oral health status, older age, female sex and worse socioeconomic status were significantly…
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Completed orthodontic treatment vs Untreated / never received orthodontic treatment

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

Completing orthodontic treatment is associated with improved OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; included reviews report low-to-moderate certainty; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating by the umbrella review).

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
    Adolescents who had never received orthodontic treatment had a greater impact on quality of life compared to patients who had already completed treatment [34, 40, 44-46]. Orthodontic treatment during childhood or…
    Studies not reported
    GRADE not reported

Prosthetic need vs Individuals without prosthetic need

Oral health-related quality of life · Indian elderly and general-population adults

Prosthetic need was significantly associated with poorer OHRQoL in both included studies (moderate certainty).

3 findings from 1 review

Missing teeth / tooth loss vs No tooth loss

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

Tooth loss/edentulism is associated with worse OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

1 finding from 1 review

Clear aligners (Invisalign / thermoformed aligners) vs Conventional orthodontic appliance treatment

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

Fluoride-containing amalgam (FAAG) vs Glass ionomer cement (GIC)

Secondary caries · Patients requiring dental restoration; permanent teeth

Over 2 or more years in permanent teeth, secondary caries did not differ significantly between fluoride-containing amalgam and GIC (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.45-2.00; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Bruxism vs No bruxism

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

Bruxism was not shown to impact OHRQoL in adolescents (narrative synthesis; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating).

2 findings from 1 review

Dental erosion vs No dental erosion

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

The umbrella review reported that dental erosion has not been shown to affect oral health-related quality of life.

2 findings from 1 review

Caries-associated bacterial biofilm vs Sound/control tissue (sound dentin, sound root, or enamel caries)

Bacterial collagenolytic protease gene expression · Human ex vivo carious lesions / caries-associated biofilm

Genes encoding bacterial collagenolytic proteases were detected/overexpressed in coronal and root caries (ungraded; GRADE not feasible).

1 finding from 1 review

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

CA VI activity · Children (age about 2-9 years) across the 7 meta-analyzed activity samples; excludes Kivela 1999 adults (18-24 years), qualitative only…

Salivary/biofilm CA VI activity is significantly higher in individuals with dental caries than in caries-free individuals (SMD 0.894, 95% CI 0.386 to 1.392; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Intraglandular botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) injection vs placebo injection

Adverse events (participants with >=1 adverse event) · Adults with Parkinson's disease and sialorrhea (drooling)

Type A botulinum toxin showed a borderline, non-significant increase in adverse events versus placebo (RD 0.10, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.21; ungraded subgroup).

3 findings from 1 review

38% silver diamine fluoride vs Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART)

restoration and caries status · children with caries in permanent molars

The review reported SDF was beneficial for arresting caries; no effect estimate or GRADE rating was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Dental fluorosis (assessed by TFI or WHO criteria) vs Individuals without dental fluorosis

Oral health-related quality of life · Indian children and young adults

Two studies found dental fluorosis significantly associated with poorer OHRQoL; narrative, ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Composite resin vs Resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC)

Secondary caries · Patients requiring dental restoration; deciduous (primary) teeth

Over 2 or more years in deciduous teeth, secondary caries did not differ significantly between resin composite and RMGIC (RR 1.60, 95% CI 0.85-3.00; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

CPP-ACP enamel pre-treatment for remineralization of white spot lesions before bonding metallic orthodontic brackets vs No enamel pre-treatment before bonding, or treatment with another material

Shear bond strength (SBS) of metallic orthodontic brackets · Demineralized enamel of extracted permanent human teeth

When used to remineralize white spot lesions on demineralized enamel, CPP-ACP pre-treatment did not significantly affect shear bond strength (MD 1.501, 95% CI -0.630 to 3.632; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Favorable socioeconomic and family environment vs Less favorable socioeconomic and family environment

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

The umbrella review reported better oral health-related quality of life with favorable housing, parental education, income, family environment, and access to dental care.

1 finding from 1 review

Compomer (Dyract) vs Resin composite restoration

Secondary caries · Patients requiring dental restoration; deciduous (primary) teeth

In deciduous teeth at 1 year, secondary caries did not differ significantly between compomer and resin composite, with high heterogeneity (RR 0.41, 95% CI 0.02-8.34; I2=83%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review