Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

Refine by population, intervention, comparison or outcome
More filters
Evidence found and GRADE certainty

64 questions · 89 findings · 12 reviews · Dental caries

No studies found 1 · 1.1%GRADE not reported 74 · 83.1%Very low 6 · 6.7%Low 3 · 3.4%Moderate 5 · 5.6%High 0 · 0%

Mutans streptococci present in oral samples at baseline vs Mutans streptococci absent in oral samples at baseline

Future caries experience (dmft/dmfs) · Children younger than 6 years with caries-free primary dentition (no cavitated or non-cavitated lesions at baseline)

Children with mutans streptococci at baseline had a greater future caries experience (SMD 0.85, a large effect; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Caries in upper primary incisors vs Reference (other primary tooth locations / caries-free)

Caries development in permanent teeth · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

Caries in upper primary incisors has the lowest tooth-specific predictive value for permanent-teeth caries (RR 1.6; single study; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Caries in first and second primary molars vs Reference (other primary tooth locations / caries-free)

Caries development in permanent teeth · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

Caries in the first and second primary molars is the strongest tooth-specific predictor of caries in permanent teeth (RR 3.4; single study; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Enamel caries in primary dentition (at 5 years) vs Caries-free primary dentition

Dentinal caries in permanent (newly erupted) teeth · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

Enamel caries in the primary dentition is associated with about 1.6 times higher odds of dentinal caries in permanent teeth (single study; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Dentinal caries in primary dentition (at 5 years) vs Caries-free primary dentition

Dentinal caries in permanent (newly erupted) teeth · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

Dentinal caries in the primary dentition is associated with about 3.2 times higher odds of dentinal caries in permanent teeth (single study; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Early childhood caries (ECC) vs Caries-free primary dentition

Caries development in permanent teeth · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

Early childhood caries increases the likelihood of caries in permanent teeth roughly three-fold, but the certainty of evidence is very low (OR 3.22, 95% CI 2.80 to 3.71).

1 finding from 1 review

Mutans streptococci present in oral samples at baseline vs Mutans streptococci absent in oral samples at baseline

Development of any (cavitated or non-cavitated) carious lesion · Children younger than 6 years with caries-free primary dentition (no cavitated or non-cavitated lesions at baseline)

Preschool children with mutans streptococci at baseline probably have about four times higher odds of developing early childhood caries (OR 4.13; moderate certainty).

10 findings from 1 review
Show 7 more findings

Longitudinal follow-up over time (natural caries progression; no assigned intervention) vs Within-cohort change from baseline to follow-up (>=3 y)

Annual decline in percentage of caries-free participants (permanent dentition, D3) · Children and adolescents (permanent dentition, D3, up to 21 y), Western or comparable populations

For low baseline caries experience, the annual decline in caries-free participants ranged 4.3% to 10.2% (9 studies; ungraded).

4 findings from 1 review
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Annual (studies with >=3 y follow-up) · Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand (or comparable Western populations) · Baseline caries experience: low
    4.3% to 10.2%
    9 studies · 4811 participants
    GRADE not reported
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Annual (studies with >=3 y follow-up) · Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand (or comparable Western populations)
    0.8% to 10.2%
    18 studies · 12017 participants
    GRADE not reported
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Annual (studies with >=3 y follow-up) · Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand (or comparable Western populations) · Baseline caries experience: high
    0.8% to 2.2%
    2 studies · 5029 participants
    GRADE not reported
Show 1 more finding
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Annual (studies with >=3 y follow-up) · Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand (or comparable Western populations) · Baseline caries experience: moderate
    3.7% to 8.3%
    4 studies · 928 participants
    GRADE not reported

Longitudinal follow-up over time (natural caries progression; no assigned intervention) vs Within-cohort change from baseline to follow-up (>=3 y)

Annual decline in percentage of caries-free children (primary dentition, d3) · Children (primary dentition, d3), Western or comparable populations

In the primary dentition, the annual decline in the percentage of caries-free children ranged from 3.8% to 12.2% across 6 studies (descriptive range, no pooled estimate; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Longitudinal follow-up over time (natural caries progression; no assigned intervention) vs Within-cohort change from baseline to follow-up (>=3 y)

Caries incidence rate (first D3 lesion) per person-year at risk (permanent dentition) · Children and adolescents (permanent dentition, D3, up to 21 y), Western or comparable populations

In the permanent dentition, the pooled caries incidence rate was 0.11 per person-year at risk (95% CI 0.09 to 0.13; random-effects meta-analysis of 15 studies), i.e., about 11 of every 100 caries-free persons develop dentine caries each year (ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review
  • Caries Progression Rates Revisited: A Systematic Review. 2019 All outcomes
    Per person-year at risk · Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand (or comparable Western populations)
    Incidence rate (per person-year at risk) 0.11 [0.09, 0.13]
    15 studies · 10768 participants
    GRADE not reported

38% silver diamine fluoride vs Active dentine caries at baseline (single-arm before vs after proportion)

Arrest of dentine caries · Children with dentine caries in primary and permanent teeth

Professionally applied 38% silver diamine fluoride arrested about two-thirds of active dentine caries surfaces in children (pooled proportion 65.9%, 95% CI 41.2% to 90.7%; 5 studies); certainty was not GRADE-rated and heterogeneity was very high (I2=96%).

1 finding from 1 review

Mutans streptococci detected in plaque or saliva at baseline vs No mutans streptococci detected in plaque or saliva at baseline

Development of any (cavitated or non-cavitated) carious lesion · Children younger than 6 years with caries-free primary dentition (no cavitated or non-cavitated lesions at baseline)

Across the sample-based sensitivity analysis, mutans streptococci at baseline were associated with higher odds of developing caries.

1 finding from 1 review

Primary dentition DMFT score 1-3 vs No caries in primary teeth (DMFT = 0)

Caries prevalence in permanent dentition · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

A primary-dentition DMFT of 1-3 is associated with 1.5 times higher risk of caries in permanent teeth (single study; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Primary dentition DMFT score over 13 vs No caries in primary teeth (DMFT = 0)

Caries prevalence in permanent dentition · School children and adolescents (6-18 years) followed from primary dentition (baseline examination before 72 months of age)

A primary-dentition DMFT over 13 is associated with about 15 times higher risk of caries in permanent teeth (single study; not GRADE-rated).

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride in rinse vs no treatment

Caries increment, surface index D(M)FS · Children or adolescents

In the illustrative network meta-regression the SMD for caries increment differed between fluoride in rinse and no treatment at every displayed randomization year; certainty was not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride in dentifrice vs placebo

Caries increment, surface index D(M)FS · Children or adolescents

In the illustrative network meta-regression the SMD for caries increment differed between fluoride in dentifrice and placebo at every displayed randomization year; certainty was not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride in dentifrice vs no treatment

Caries increment, surface index D(M)FS · Children or adolescents

In the illustrative network meta-regression the SMD for caries increment differed between fluoride in dentifrice and no treatment at every displayed randomization year; certainty was not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride varnish vs Fluoride in dentifrice

Caries increment, surface index D(M)FS · Children or adolescents

The illustrative network meta-regression estimated an SMD for caries increment for fluoride in varnish versus fluoride in dentifrice across randomization year; the review did not state whether the difference was significant and certainty was not graded.

1 finding from 1 review

Fluoride gel (topically applied; operator- or self-applied; any fluoride agent/concentration; frequency at least once a year) vs Fluoride in rinse

Caries increment, surface index D(M)FS · Children or adolescents

The illustrative network meta-regression estimated an SMD for caries increment for fluoride in gel versus fluoride in rinse across randomization year; the review did not state whether the difference was significant and certainty was not graded.

1 finding from 1 review