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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

177 questions · 309 findings · 26 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 10 · 3.2%GRADE not reported 268 · 86.7%Very low 15 · 4.9%Low 14 · 4.5%Moderate 2 · 0.6%High 0 · 0%

Bottle-feeding only vs Breastfeeding only

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Healthy children under 6 years in South Africa

No significant difference in caries odds was found between bottle-fed-only and breast-fed-only children (meta-analysis reported no difference; pooled estimate in an unavailable supplementary figure; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Low parental socioeconomic status (SES) vs High parental socioeconomic status (SES)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Healthy children under 6 years in South Africa

No significant difference in caries odds was found between children of low- versus high-SES parents (meta-analysis reported no difference; pooled estimate in an unavailable supplementary figure; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Cesarean section delivery vs Vaginal delivery

Caries prevalence (early childhood caries) · Toddlers and preschool children, 2 to 6 years of age (primary dentition)

Caesarean section delivery may be associated with a modestly higher prevalence of early childhood caries than vaginal delivery (pooled OR 1.48), but the evidence is inconsistent and of very low certainty.

1 finding from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Early childhood caries experience (mean dmft) · Children younger than 71 months (under 6 years)

Mean dmft was lowest (1.62 teeth) in low-inequality countries by Gini index.

16 findings from 1 review
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High-frequency sugar consumption (three or more times daily) vs Low sugar intake (fewer than three times daily)

Early childhood caries experience (mean dmft) · Nigerian children with primary dentition (approximately 6 months to 5 years)

In primary dentition, high-frequency sugar consumption was associated with slightly higher, non-significant odds of caries (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.23 to 5.44), with high heterogeneity (I2=83%; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Metal-free single crowns (full-contour zirconia) vs Composite strip crown

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children (aged 3-5.5 years) with early childhood caries in anterior primary teeth (>=2 carious surfaces), no pulp therapy

Zirconia crowns failed less than composite strip crowns (3.3% vs 15% annual failure) in one RCT; low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (PDT) vs No photodynamic therapy (untreated negative control)

Microbial reduction (viable count, log CFU/mL) · Patients with dental caries (in vivo cariogenic microorganisms, including children with early childhood caries)

In randomized clinical trials, photodynamic therapy significantly reduced cariogenic microbial counts versus untreated control (SMD -1.16, 95% CI -2.02 to -0.30; 2 trials), but heterogeneity was high (I2=70%) and considered too high to rely on; certainty was not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Package of oral health education/promotion including oral hygiene advice for pregnant women, mothers, infants and young children, plus dietary and feeding practice advice for infants and young children vs usual care

Caries presence in primary teeth · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…

It is very uncertain whether package of oral health education/promotion including oral hygiene… changes caries presence in primary teeth compared with standard care (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Dietary advice on how to achieve a healthy diet for infants (tailored advice focused on a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol intake) vs usual care

Dental caries · For interventions, pregnant women, mothers or other caregivers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years…

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

2 findings from 1 review

Oral health education/promotion (oral hygiene advice plus diet and feeding practice advice) combined with clinical treatment for mother's dentition (basic restorative and preventive; 1 trial included CHX varnish application) vs usual care

Mother microbiological presence (high-level mutans streptococci / lactobacilli) · For interventions, pregnant women and mothers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years of age

Oral health education/promotion (oral hygiene advice plus diet and… showed no clear difference in mother microbiological presence (high-level mutans streptococci /… compared with standard care; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Consumption of xylitol chewing gum by women (mothers) vs Consumption of CHX/xylitol gum by women, or CHX varnish applied to women's dentition

Caries presence in primary teeth · For interventions, pregnant women and mothers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years of age

It is very uncertain whether consumption of xylitol chewing gum by women (mothers) changes caries presence in primary teeth compared with consumption of CHX/xylitol gum by women, or CHX varnish applied to… (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Prophylaxis (teeth cleaning) and CHX or iodine-NaF solution application in the dentition of women (mothers) vs placebo

Mother microbiological presence · For interventions, pregnant women and mothers of infants in the first year of life; for outcomes, children up to 6 years of age
1 finding from 1 review