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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

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

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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%

CD4+ T-cell count below 250 cells/mm3 vs CD4+ T-cell count >=250 cells/mm3

HIV-related oral lesions · Children and adolescents living with HIV on ART/HAART

Lower CD4+ counts (<250 cells/mm3) were associated with roughly twice the odds of HIV-related oral lesions in two studies (not pooled).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Oral Health Status of Children and Adolescents Living with HIV Undergoing Antiretroviral Therapy: A Systematic Review… 2022 All outcomes
    Cross-sectional (case-control; single time point) · HIV pediatric/ART clinics, AIDS centers, and hospitals in Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, and West Africa (Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal) · CD4+ T-cell count <250 cells/mm3 vs higher
    CLWH with CD4+ <250 cells/mm3 were about twice as likely to have HIV-related oral lesions: Baghirath 2013 OR 1.916 (95% CI 0.613 to 2.513), p=0.001; Divakar 2015 OR 1.999 (95% CI 0.129 to 3.688), p=0.001. Not pooled.
    2 studies
    GRADE not reported

Responsive complementary feeding (RCF) / other caregivers' feeding practices vs Other models of complementary feeding (traditional/non-responsive CF)

Type 2 diabetes (later in life) · Healthy, term-born, normal-birth-weight infants aged 4-24 months (breastfed and/or formula-fed) in Western industrialized countries

No eligible studies examined the influence of complementary feeding practices on later type 2 diabetes; this is an evidence gap.

1 finding from 1 review

Machine-learning algorithms for dental caries detection vs Different machine-learning algorithms for caries prediction

Dental caries detection accuracy · Dental images of human beings

The review reported 70% accuracy for dental caries detection in Mayank et al. (Ungraded).

3 findings from 1 review

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Sugary drinks/sweets consumption prevalence (among children with caries) · Children with dental caries (deciduous and/or permanent dentition) in low- and middle-income countries

About 70% of children with caries in LMICs consumed sugary drinks/sweets (pooled prevalence 0.697, 95% CI 0.478 to 0.877; 7 studies; very high heterogeneity; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Dental caries vs Caries-free status

Alpha diversity (Observed, Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson) · Participants in oral 16S rRNA caries microbiome studies

Across the combined sample set, alpha-diversity metrics were significantly higher in caries than in health, but no pooled effect estimate was reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Selective carious tissue removal (selective excavation, SE) vs Non-selective or complete carious tissue removal

Pulp exposure during caries removal · Children (3-11 years) with symptomless, vital dentine caries in primary molars

Partial caries removal reduced the reported risk of pulp exposure versus complete caries removal in primary teeth (RR 0.24; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Comprehensive oral health intervention (oral health education plus additional support: motivational interviewing, toothbrush/toothpaste provision, community engagement, and/or fluoride varnish/sealant application) delivered by non-dental health workers vs control (no intervention/usual care/isotonic exercise)

Caries experience at the surface level (dmfs/defs) · Children (mean age newborn to ~5.2 years) and their parents/carers

Comprehensive interventions produced a small, statistically significant reduction in surface-level caries (dmfs SMD -0.14, 95% CI -0.26 to -0.02; 10 studies; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Composite resin with a beveled cavity margin vs Composite resin with no bevel (butt-joint margin)

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with Class-I carious lesions in primary molars, no pulp therapy

A beveled margin lowered composite resin failure (1.8% vs 3.5% annual failure) in one RCT; low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Food marketing exposure or greater marketing power vs No, less, or less powerful food marketing

Food purchasing · Children and adolescents (general population, aged under 20 years)

Across five studies, 40% showed any association of potential public health harm for food purchasing (very low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Common genetic variants genome-wide (GWAS; ~3.9 million SNPs with MAF > 5%) vs ECC-unaffected children (per-allele case-control association)

Early childhood caries (ECC) - association at lead SNP rs563135 (10:115067899; nearest gene(s) TCF7L2, CASP7) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)

The common variant rs563135 near TCF7L2, CASP7 showed suggestive (not genome-wide significant) association with ECC (Z = -4.532, p = 5.86e-6); genetic association, ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review

Responsive complementary feeding (RCF) vs Other models of complementary feeding (traditional/non-responsive CF)

Physical growth / weight gain · Healthy, term-born, normal-birth-weight infants aged 4-24 months (breastfed and/or formula-fed) in Western industrialized countries

Two RCTs suggest responsive complementary feeding leads to better weight gain in the first two years, though effects were small and not always sustained (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Conventional GIC vs Compomer and glass carbomer

Restoration failure · Children with carious primary teeth

No comparative effect estimate was reported; cumulative failure was highest for glass carbomer.

1 finding from 1 review