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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

2,066 questions · 3,346 findings · 178 reviews · Dental caries

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No studies found 48 · 1.4%GRADE not reported 2,789 · 83.4%Very low 208 · 6.2%Low 129 · 3.9%Moderate 136 · 4.1%High 36 · 1.1%

Non-selective carious tissue removal and conventional restoration (CR) vs Hall Technique (sealing with a preformed metal crown)

Efficiency, costs or cost-effectiveness · Children and/or adults with permanent or primary teeth, vital (sensitive) pulps, and cavitated or dentine carious lesions conventionally…
1 finding from 1 review

Vitapex (calcium hydroxide/iodoform) vs 3Mix (ciprofloxacin + metronidazole + minocycline)

Radiological failure · Children with extensive decay involving the dental pulp in primary teeth

Vitapex (calcium hydroxide/iodoform) showed no clear difference in radiological failure compared with 3Mix (ciprofloxacin + metronidazole + minocycline); GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Vitapex (calcium hydroxide/iodoform) vs 3Mix (ciprofloxacin + metronidazole + minocycline)

Clinical failure · Children with extensive decay involving the dental pulp in primary teeth

Vitapex (calcium hydroxide/iodoform) showed no clear difference in clinical failure compared with 3Mix (ciprofloxacin + metronidazole + minocycline); GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns vs Conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns

Restoration failure · Children aged 12 years or younger with tooth decay involving at least one tooth in the primary dentition, symptomatic or symptom free

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns showed no clear difference in restoration failure at 6 months compared with conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns vs Conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns

Occlusion · Children aged 12 years or younger with tooth decay involving at least one tooth in the primary dentition, symptomatic or symptom free

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns led to lower occlusion at 6 months compared with conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns vs Conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns

Proximal contact at 6 months · Children aged 12 years or younger with tooth decay involving at least one tooth in the primary dentition, symptomatic or symptom free

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns led to lower proximal contact at 6 months compared with conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns vs Conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns

Marginal integrity of restoration · Children aged 12 years or younger with tooth decay involving at least one tooth in the primary dentition, symptomatic or symptom free

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns led to lower marginal integrity at 6 months compared with conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns vs Conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns

Gingival health at 6 months · Children aged 12 years or younger with tooth decay involving at least one tooth in the primary dentition, symptomatic or symptom free

Aesthetic (resin-veneered) crowns showed no clear difference in gingival health at 6 months compared with conventional metal (stainless steel) crowns; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

Direct composite resin restoration vs Full-coverage metal-ceramic crown

Clinical failure (post dislodgement) · Participants with endodontically-treated permanent premolars restored with a carbon-fibre post (Category III)

Direct composite restoration (final restoration) showed no clear difference in clinical failure (post dislodgement) compared with full-coverage metal-ceramic crown; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review

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

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Permanent teeth with carious pulp exposure

In partial pulpotomy, MTA had significantly higher success than calcium hydroxide (OR 2.81; ungraded).

5 findings from 2 reviews · compare the 2 reviews
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Maternal smoking during pregnancy vs No maternal smoking during pregnancy

Dental caries · children

Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with higher odds of dental caries in children (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.55 to 2.05; ungraded).

14 findings from 2 reviews · compare the 2 reviews
Show 11 more findings

Dental caries vs Adolescents without dental caries

Negative oral-health impact on daily performance (OIDP or Child-OIDP) · Adolescents (10-19 years)

In the Child-OIDP subgroup, dental caries is associated with a worse oral-health impact: PR 1.66 (95% CI 1.19 to 2.31) from 6 studies (I2=96%); ungraded, and not statistically different from the OIDP subgroup (p=0.96).

5 findings from 1 review
  • Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Cross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Instrument subgroup: Child-OIDP
    PR 1.66 [1.19, 2.31]
    6 studies
    GRADE not reported
  • Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Cross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Instrument subgroup: OIDP (all 3 studies)
    PR 1.68 [0.89, 3.17]
    3 studies
    GRADE not reported
  • Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Cross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Instrument subgroup: OIDP, sensitivity analysis excluding Krisdapong et al.
    PR 1.21 [1.15, 1.28]
    2 studies
    GRADE not reported
Show 2 more findings
  • Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Cross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Overall (all meta-analyzed studies pooled; both instruments and both caries definitions)
    PR 1.52 [1.15, 2.01]
    9 studies
    GRADE not reported
  • Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes
    Cross-sectional (concurrent exposure and outcome); oral impacts recalled over the prior 6 months · School-based (17/20 studies), plus household and secondary-data surveys; low-, middle- and high-income countries (Brazil, Thailand, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Iran, Serbia, Nepal, India, South Africa, China) · Caries-definition subgroup: presence of dental caries
    PR 1.19 [0.77, 1.84]
    3 studies
    GRADE not reported

Low tooth brushing frequency (<2 times/day) vs High tooth brushing frequency (>=2 times/day)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Healthy children under 6 years of age (6 months to 6 years); preschool children

After excluding an extreme outlier (Alhabdan 2018), the association between low brushing frequency and ECC remained statistically significant (pooled OR approximately 2.0, p=0.003; I2=87.5%); the exact estimate and its CI were not reported; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Low edentulism prevalence vs Not applicable

Oral health-related quality of life · people aged 60 years and older living in the community

No statistically significant difference in OHRQoL was reported by edentulism prevalence.

1 finding from 1 review

Breastfeeding for more than 24 months vs Not breastfed at the same age or breastfed for a shorter duration

Early childhood caries (ECC) - incidence/risk · Children with exclusively primary dentition (age ≤71 months)

Breastfeeding beyond 24 months is associated with an increased risk (incidence) of early childhood caries versus not breastfeeding at the same age (RR 2.44, 95% CI 1.97 to 3.02; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Intervention not reported

Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 2: loss of dental hard substance adjacent to the restoration

The intervention showed no clear difference in composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 2: loss…; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review