Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

372 questions · 521 findings · 37 reviews

No studies found 9 · 1.7%GRADE not reported 477 · 91.6%Very low 11 · 2.1%Low 16 · 3.1%Moderate 7 · 1.3%High 1 · 0.2%

Preformed metal crown (PMC) vs Resin-modified glass-ionomer cement + composite resin (modified open-sandwich restoration)

Restoration failure · Children with carious primary teeth after vital or non-vital pulp therapy

In one RCT, preformed metal crowns had an annual failure rate of 2.5% after 2 years.

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

Restorative materials placed by atraumatic restorative treatment (ART); mostly high-viscosity/conventional GIC, also RMGIC, glass carbomer, compomer, composite resin vs Different ART materials or application techniques (e.g., bilayer vs single-step, with vs without cavity conditioner/disinfectant), or composite resin

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with carious primary teeth treated by atraumatic restorative treatment (hand-instrument caries removal), no pulp therapy

ART restorations (mainly GIC) had a wide annual failure rate (1.2-37.1%) across 10 RCTs, with technique affecting survival; low to unclear quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Preformed metal crown (PMC) vs Resin-modified glass-ionomer cement + composite resin (modified open-sandwich restoration)

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with carious primary molars treated by pulpotomy (vital pulp therapy)

Preformed metal crowns had a low annual failure rate (2.5%) in primary molars after pulpotomy, but the evidence is of low quality (single high-risk-of-bias split-mouth RCT; not GRADE-rated).

2 findings from 1 review

Bulk-fill composite resin with 7-second dentine etching vs Bulk-fill composite resin with 15-second dentine etching

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children (aged 5-8 years) with Class-II caries in primary molars, no pulp therapy

Etching dentine for 7 s rather than 15 s lowered bulk-fill composite failure (5.8% vs 16.9% annual failure) in one RCT; low quality of evidence (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

Bio-active restorative materials vs Any conventional restorative material

Treatment failure (planned; no eligible studies) · Children with carious primary teeth after vital or non-vital pulp therapy

No eligible studies were found evaluating bio-active restorative materials for restoring carious primary teeth after pulp therapy.

1 finding from 1 review

Metal-reinforced glass-ionomer cement (MRGIC) restoration vs Conventional GIC

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with previously unrestored, vital carious lesions in primary teeth (no pulp therapy); aged 1.5-11 years

Metal-reinforced GIC had a high annual failure rate (29.9%) in a single RCT; low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Compomer (C) vs Amalgam, RMGIC, HVGIC, composite resin, bulk-fill composite resin, another compomer, or alternative caries management

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with previously unrestored, vital carious lesions in primary teeth (no pulp therapy); aged 1.5-11 years

Compomer had an annual failure rate of 0-14.7% (7 RCTs), comparable to amalgam/RMGIC/composite and better than high-viscosity GIC; low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Conventional GIC vs Amalgam or metal-reinforced GIC

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with previously unrestored, vital carious lesions in primary teeth (no pulp therapy); aged 1.5-11 years

Conventional GIC had an annual failure rate of 7.6-16.6% (2 RCTs) and failed more than amalgam in one trial; low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Class-I (single-surface) cavity restoration vs Class-II (proximal/multi-surface) cavity restoration

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) by cavity class · Children with carious primary teeth restored in Class-I versus Class-II cavities, no pulp therapy

Class-II restorations failed more than Class-I (annual failure 5-28.9% vs 1.2-14.7% in ART studies); low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Hall technique vs Compomer restoration or non-restorative caries treatment

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children (aged 3-8 years) with 2-surface occluso-proximal dentine caries in primary molars, no pulp therapy

Preformed metal (Hall) crowns had a low reported annual failure rate (3.1%) versus compomer (14.7%) in one RCT; low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Composite resin vs Compomer, glass-ionomer/RMGIC, amalgam, or glass carbomer

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with previously unrestored, vital carious lesions in primary teeth (no pulp therapy); aged 1.5-11 years

Composite resin (hybrid 0-19.5%; bulk-fill 0-16.9%) performed comparably to or better than most alternatives across 11 RCTs; evidence is of low to unclear quality (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Bio-active restorative materials vs Any restorative material or technique

Not applicable (no eligible studies) · Children with carious primary teeth (no pulp therapy)

No eligible RCTs assessed new bio-active restorative materials in carious primary teeth; this is an evidence gap identified by the review.

1 finding from 1 review

Glass carbomer restoration (placed after drilling) vs Composite resin or RMGIC

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with previously unrestored, vital carious lesions in primary teeth (no pulp therapy); aged 1.5-11 years

Glass carbomer had very high failure rates (up to 46.2%) in a single RCT, far worse than composite resin or RMGIC; low quality of evidence (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Amalgam vs Preformed metal crown (PMC)

Treatment failure (annual failure rate) · Children with carious primary molars treated by pulpotomy (vital pulp therapy)

Preformed metal crowns had a low annual failure rate (2.4%) in primary molars after pulpotomy, lower than amalgam in the same trial (single high-risk-of-bias RCT; low quality of evidence; not GRADE-rated).

2 findings from 1 review

Triple antibiotic paste (TAP) vs Abscess remedy (AR)

Overall success (composite of clinical and radiographic success) · Immature (young) permanent teeth with open apex and vital pulp exposed to dental caries or trauma, in children aged 6-14 years

A single RCT found higher pulpotomy success with triple antibiotic paste than abscess remedy (100% vs 80%; statistically significant, P<0.05; not pooled; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Dental cavity liner (e.g. calcium hydroxide, glass ionomer, resin-modified glass ionomer, or flowable composite) placed under the restoration vs No cavity liner or a different liner material

Restoration longevity · Patients with deep caries lesions in mature or immature permanent (posterior) teeth, with no symptoms or reversible pulpitis

Cavity liners may make little or no difference to restoration longevity (high success across groups; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review

Higher drinking-water fluoride exposure vs Null / lowest drinking-water fluoride exposure (reference)

Fracture · general population

Non-linear positive dose-response: little change in overall fracture risk below ~1.5 mg/L drinking-water fluoride, with risk increasing above that threshold (RR 1.06, 1.19, 1.35 at 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 mg/L vs null); ungraded (4 studies).

4 findings from 1 review
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Anorexia nervosa (as exposure; diagnosed by DSM-III/III-R/IV/V) vs Healthy controls

Percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP) · Patients with anorexia nervosa aged >=12 years (mean age ~18.4; entirely female in reported data), general community-dwelling population

Anorexia nervosa is associated with significantly increased bleeding on probing versus healthy controls (MD 16.57%, 95% CI 12.89 to 20.25; low certainty).

1 finding from 1 review