What do systematic reviews say?

One-to-one dietary intervention aimed at preventing tooth erosion (e.g., reducing consumption of acidic/carbonated drinks) vs No dietary advice, or different dietary advice

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes
  There were no studies concerned with dietary change aimed at preventing tooth erosion.
  0 studies
  No studies found

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Among adults and excluding the outlier study, vegetarian diet was associated with higher odds of dental erosion with no heterogeneity (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.77 to 3.71; ungraded).

• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings · Adults only, excluding Linkosalo & Markkanen 1985
  OR 2.56 [1.77, 3.71]
  4 studies
  GRADE not reported
• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings · Sensitivity analysis excluding Linkosalo & Markkanen 1985 (outlier)
  OR 1.97 [1.19, 3.27]
  5 studies
  GRADE not reported
• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
  OR 2.40 [1.24, 4.66]
  6 studies
  GRADE not reported

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Beyond dental erosion, vegetarians tended to have a higher prevalence of other NCCL and tooth wear than nonvegetarians, reported narratively (ungraded).

• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
  Eleven studies reported on NCCL using six definitions (presence of NCCL, presence of dental erosion, presence and severity of tooth wear, dental abrasion, cervical buccal defects); the six reporting presence of dental…
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Evidence on the number of natural teeth was conflicting and could not be pooled (ungraded).

• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
  Seven studies reported on the number of teeth with conflicting findings; meta-analysis was not possible due to inconsistent outcome definitions. One study found vegetarians had significantly more teeth; two found no…
  7 studies
  GRADE not reported

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Among adults, the lower DMFT score in vegetarians was smaller and not statistically significant (mean difference -0.09, 95% CI -0.32 to 0.13; ungraded).

• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings · Adults only
  MD -0.09 [-0.32, 0.13]
  3 studies
  GRADE not reported
• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
  MD -0.15 [-0.29, -0.02]
  4 studies
  GRADE not reported

Vegetarian diet (any diet excluding all meat, poultry and fish) vs Nonvegetarian diet

Evidence on other dental-caries measures was inconsistent: some indices (decayed surfaces/teeth, root caries, white spots) were higher in vegetarians while some studies found lower caries in vegetarian children (ungraded).

• Vegetarian diet and its possible influence on dental health: A systematic literature review. 2020 All outcomes

  Multiple countries (mostly India; also Finland and other European countries, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago); community and clinical settings
  Eleven studies reported dental caries using 11 definitions; four (DMFT) were meta-analysed (see O2). Narrative findings were inconsistent: DMFS results were mixed; decayed surfaces and decayed teeth and percentages of…
  Studies not reported
  GRADE not reported

Unfavourable oral hygiene and dietary habits (frequent sweet/sugar consumption; low toothbrushing frequency in early childhood) vs Favourable oral hygiene and dietary habits

Early-childhood oral hygiene and dietary habits show inconsistent associations with permanent-teeth caries, often losing significance after adjustment for past caries (2 studies; not pooled; not GRADE-rated).

• Does Early Childhood Caries Increase Caries Development among School Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review and… 2022 All outcomes

  Cohort studies (Sweden, USA)
  Two studies reported associations; frequent sweet consumption and lower toothbrushing frequency in early childhood were associated with higher caries prevalence/severity in adolescence, but these behaviours were not…
  2 studies
  GRADE not reported

Dietary counselling tailored to a Stage of Change (Transtheoretical Model) to increase fruit and vegetable intake (two counselling sessions) vs usual care

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  6 weeks after receiving replacement dentures (about 10 weeks after baseline)
  At follow-up 75% (22) of the intervention group versus 21% (6) of the control were in the Action Stage of Change for vegetable consumption (P<0.001); baseline 23% (7) versus 25% (7). Significant difference between…
  1 study · 58 participants
  GRADE not reported

Dietary counselling tailored to a Stage of Change (Transtheoretical Model) to increase fruit and vegetable intake (two counselling sessions) vs usual care

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  6 weeks after receiving replacement dentures (about 10 weeks after baseline)
  Mean (SD) g/day (Table 1): fruit - intervention 111 (80) at baseline rising to 254 (194) at follow-up; control 87 (82) to 106 (116). A significant change in the weight of fruit consumed was found in the intervention…
  1 study · 58 participants
  GRADE not reported

Dietary counselling tailored to a Stage of Change (Transtheoretical Model) to increase fruit and vegetable intake (two counselling sessions) vs usual care

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  6 weeks after receiving replacement dentures (about 10 weeks after baseline)
  Mean (SD) BMI kg/m2 (Table 1): intervention 27.4 (3.5) to 27.2 (3.4); control 26.1 (3.3) to 26.1 (3.4). No statistically significant difference between intervention and control (P=0.22).
  1 study · 58 participants
  GRADE not reported

Dietary counselling tailored to a Stage of Change (Transtheoretical Model) to increase fruit and vegetable intake (two counselling sessions) vs usual care

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  6 weeks after receiving replacement dentures (about 10 weeks after baseline)
  Mean (SD) g/day (Table 1): vegetables - intervention 157 (73) to 224 (109); control 168 (83) to 175 (91). No significant between-group change in vegetable consumption.
  1 study · 58 participants
  GRADE not reported

Dietary counselling tailored to a Stage of Change (Transtheoretical Model) to increase fruit and vegetable intake (two counselling sessions) vs usual care

Dietary counselling tailored to a Stage of Change (Transtheoretical… showed no clear difference in fruit juice consumption: risk of starting to drink fruit juice compared with usual care; GRADE not reported.

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  6 weeks after receiving replacement dentures (about 10 weeks after baseline)
  RR 1.09 [0.42, 2.85]
  1 study · 58 participants
  GRADE not reported

Dietary counselling tailored to a Stage of Change (Transtheoretical Model) to increase fruit and vegetable intake (two counselling sessions) vs usual care

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  6 weeks after receiving replacement dentures (about 10 weeks after baseline)
  At follow-up 75% (22) of the intervention group versus 29% (8) of the control were in the Action Stage of Change for fruit consumption (P<0.001); baseline 20% (6) versus 8% (2). Significant difference between groups.…
  1 study · 58 participants
  GRADE not reported

Individually designed, patient-centred preventive programme: dietary counselling (snacking timing, regular meals, fermentable carbohydrates) plus toothbrushing counselling, delivered by trained dental hygienists (a multi-intervention) vs Basic prevention offered as standard in public dental clinics

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 to 4 years
  Table 2: 52% (130) versus 53% (131) at follow-up (baseline 41% versus 44%). No significant change.
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported

Individually designed, patient-centred preventive programme: dietary counselling (snacking timing, regular meals, fermentable carbohydrates) plus toothbrushing counselling, delivered by trained dental hygienists (a multi-intervention) vs Basic prevention offered as standard in public dental clinics

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 to 4 years
  Table 2: 86% (215) intervention versus 83% (205) control at follow-up (baseline 74% versus 77%). No significant change.
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported

Individually designed, patient-centred preventive programme: dietary counselling (snacking timing, regular meals, fermentable carbohydrates) plus toothbrushing counselling, delivered by trained dental hygienists (a multi-intervention) vs Basic prevention offered as standard in public dental clinics

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 to 4 years
  Table 2: 77% (193) versus 75% (185) at follow-up (baseline 71% versus 69%). No significant change.
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported

Individually designed, patient-centred preventive programme: dietary counselling (snacking timing, regular meals, fermentable carbohydrates) plus toothbrushing counselling, delivered by trained dental hygienists (a multi-intervention) vs Basic prevention offered as standard in public dental clinics

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  4 years
  Mean (95% CI) DMFS increment after 4 years: intervention 2.56 (2.07 to 3.05) versus control 4.60 (3.99 to 5.21); significant difference favouring the intervention (P<0.0001; non-overlapping CIs). No between-group point…
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported
• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 years
  Mean (95% CI) DMFS increment after 2 years: intervention 1.86 (1.50 to 2.21) versus control 2.44 (2.12 to 2.77); significant difference favouring the intervention (P<0.05, comparing intervention and control). No…
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported

Individually designed, patient-centred preventive programme: dietary counselling (snacking timing, regular meals, fermentable carbohydrates) plus toothbrushing counselling, delivered by trained dental hygienists (a multi-intervention) vs Basic prevention offered as standard in public dental clinics

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 to 4 years
  Table 2: 71% (178) versus 68% (168) at follow-up (baseline 69% versus 65%). No significant change.
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported

Individually designed, patient-centred preventive programme: dietary counselling (snacking timing, regular meals, fermentable carbohydrates) plus toothbrushing counselling, delivered by trained dental hygienists (a multi-intervention) vs Basic prevention offered as standard in public dental clinics

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 to 4 years
  Table 2: 77% (193) versus 81% (200) at follow-up (baseline 83% versus 74%, a significant baseline difference). No significant change at follow-up.
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported

Individually designed, patient-centred preventive programme: dietary counselling (snacking timing, regular meals, fermentable carbohydrates) plus toothbrushing counselling, delivered by trained dental hygienists (a multi-intervention) vs Basic prevention offered as standard in public dental clinics

• One‐to‐one dietary interventions undertaken in a dental setting to change dietary behaviour 2012 · Cochrane All outcomes

  2 to 4 years
  Table 2: 87% (218) versus 86% (212) at follow-up (baseline 81% versus 87%). No significant change.
  1 study · 497 participants
  GRADE not reported