Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

1,052 questions · 1,797 findings · 134 reviews · All outcomes

No studies found 10 · 0.6%GRADE not reported 1,630 · 90.7%Very low 95 · 5.3%Low 23 · 1.3%Moderate 22 · 1.2%High 17 · 0.9%

Dental caries during pregnancy vs Pregnant women without dental caries

Preterm birth stratified by clinical type (spontaneous vs iatrogenic vs term) · pregnant women

The planned subanalysis by type of preterm birth (spontaneous vs iatrogenic vs term) could not be performed because of the small number of cases and lack of information in the original studies.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Dental caries and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2018 All outcomes
    Pregnant women assessed around delivery in observational studies across multiple countries (Mexico, Malawi, India, France, Jordan, Finland, Tanzania); mostly retrospective cohort and case-control designs · By type of PTB (spontaneous vs iatrogenic)
    no estimate extracted
    0 studies
    GRADE not reported

Dental caries during pregnancy vs Pregnant women without dental caries

Preterm birth stratified by gestational age at birth (moderate-to-late 32 to <37, very 28 to <32, extremely <28 weeks) · pregnant women

The planned subanalysis of preterm birth by gestational age at birth (moderate-to-late, very, extremely preterm) could not be performed because of the small number of cases and lack of stratified data in the original studies.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Dental caries and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2018 All outcomes
    Pregnant women assessed around delivery in observational studies across multiple countries (Mexico, Malawi, India, France, Jordan, Finland, Tanzania); mostly retrospective cohort and case-control designs · By gestational age at birth
    no estimate extracted
    0 studies
    GRADE not reported

Dental caries during pregnancy vs Pregnant women without dental caries

Gestational age (preterm birth < 37 weeks) · pregnant women

Pregnant women with dental caries did not have a significantly increased risk of preterm birth (pooled OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.49; 5 studies; I2=35%); certainty of evidence not graded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Dental caries and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2018 All outcomes
    Pregnant women assessed around delivery in observational studies across multiple countries (Mexico, Malawi, India, France, Jordan, Finland, Tanzania); mostly retrospective cohort and case-control designs
    OR 1.16 [0.90, 1.49]
    5 studies · 4246 participants
    GRADE not reported

Prenatal vitamin D deficiency (low maternal 25(OH)D during pregnancy) vs Adequate prenatal vitamin D (sufficient maternal 25(OH)D)

Dental caries prevalence · Children aged 2 to 8 years

The review reported 44% dental caries prevalence among children of mothers with low prenatal vitamin D.

2 findings from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa

Pooled ECC prevalence in Tunisia was 38% (95% CI 24-51), significantly lower than Egypt and Sudan.

10 findings from 1 review
Show 7 more findings

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Dental caries prevalence · Primary school children in Ethiopia

Among studies using systematic random sampling, the pooled prevalence of dental caries was 35% (ungraded; CI not reported).

4 findings from 1 review
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Cariogram multivariable caries-risk model (including modified/reduced-predictor versions) vs Alternative prediction model(s) within the same study, or no formal comparator (models compared descriptively; no between-model statistical test)

Predictive performance of the Cariogram for caries increment (positive likelihood ratio, LR+) · Children/adolescents (coronal caries) and older adults (root caries); populations from areas with varying caries risk

Modified Cariogram models showed modest positive likelihood ratios (LR+ ~1.1-3.8) for predicting caries increment, generally below the useful threshold; no pooled estimate; ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Multivariable prediction models of caries increment: a systematic review and critical appraisal. 2023 All outcomes
    Follow-up >=1 year (included studies 1-5 years) · Oral health care; children/adolescents and older adults; multiple countries · Model validation studies
    Six validation studies (5 coronal, 1 root) evaluated modified Cariogram models (not the original model per se). Review-stated LR+ range 1.1-3.8 (with one exception). LR+ was not substantially changed by excluding the…
    6 studies
    GRADE not reported

Cariogram multivariable caries-risk model (including modified/reduced-predictor versions) vs Alternative prediction model(s) within the same study, or no formal comparator (models compared descriptively; no between-model statistical test)

Predictive performance of the Cariogram for caries increment (negative likelihood ratio, LR-) · Children/adolescents (coronal caries) and older adults (root caries); populations from areas with varying caries risk

Modified Cariogram models showed negative likelihood ratios of about 0.5-0.61, above the useful rule-out threshold; no pooled estimate; ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Multivariable prediction models of caries increment: a systematic review and critical appraisal. 2023 All outcomes
    Follow-up >=1 year (included studies 1-5 years) · Oral health care; children/adolescents and older adults; multiple countries · Model validation studies
    Review-stated LR- range 0.5-0.61 across the Cariogram validation models (with one exception). Model performance was largely unaffected by removing the predictors mutans streptococci in saliva, saliva secretion and…
    6 studies
    GRADE not reported

Multivariable caries prediction model vs Alternative prediction model(s) within the same study, or no formal comparator (models compared descriptively; no between-model statistical test)

Predictive performance for root caries increment (negative likelihood ratio, LR-) · Older adults (aged 52-95; mean 52-73) at risk of root caries increment

The single root-caries validation study (Hayes 2017) showed LR- of 0.34-0.41, above the useful rule-out threshold; no pooled estimate; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Multivariable caries prediction model vs Alternative prediction model(s) within the same study, or no formal comparator (models compared descriptively; no between-model statistical test)

Predictive performance for root caries increment (positive likelihood ratio, LR+) · Older adults (aged 52-95; mean 52-73) at risk of root caries increment

Developmental root-caries prediction models were generally modest, except Sanchez-Garcia 2011 (LR+ 7.09) which reached the useful threshold; no pooled estimate; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review

Multivariable caries prediction model vs Alternative prediction model(s) within the same study, or no formal comparator (models compared descriptively; no between-model statistical test)

Predictive performance for coronal caries increment (negative likelihood ratio, LR-) · Children and adolescents (aged 2-19) at risk of coronal caries increment (caries onset or progression)

Some developmental coronal-caries models achieved useful negative likelihood ratios (LR-<=0.20), but performance varied widely; no pooled estimate; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review
  • Multivariable prediction models of caries increment: a systematic review and critical appraisal. 2023 All outcomes
    Follow-up >=1 year (included studies 1-5 years) · Oral health care; children/adolescents; no geographical restriction · Model development studies
    No meta-analysis. Per-model LR- (Table 2) for the 8 development studies ranged roughly 0.11-0.94 (e.g. Angulo 0.94, Demers 0.14-0.40, Gao 2010 0.11-0.30). Overall across all 66 models LR- ranged 0.0-1.1; LR-<=0.20…
    8 studies
    GRADE not reported
  • Multivariable prediction models of caries increment: a systematic review and critical appraisal. 2023 All outcomes
    Follow-up >=1 year (included studies 1-5 years) · Oral health care; children/adolescents; no geographical restriction · Model validation studies
    No meta-analysis. Per-model LR- (Table 2) across the 9 validation studies ranged from about 0.14 to 1.13 (e.g. Gao 2013 NUS-CRA 0.26, CAMBRA 0.14-0.31, CAT up to ~1.10; Campus 0.20; Pang 2020 low-risk 1.13). Overall…
    9 studies
    GRADE not reported

Multivariable caries prediction model vs Alternative prediction model(s) within the same study, or no formal comparator (models compared descriptively; no between-model statistical test)

Predictive performance for coronal caries increment (positive likelihood ratio, LR+) · Children and adolescents (aged 2-19) at risk of coronal caries increment (caries onset or progression)

Most externally validated coronal-caries models showed modest LR+ (<5); only Campus 2012 and Gao 2013 NUS-CRA reached the useful threshold; no pooled estimate; ungraded.

2 findings from 1 review
  • Multivariable prediction models of caries increment: a systematic review and critical appraisal. 2023 All outcomes
    Follow-up >=1 year (included studies 1-5 years) · Oral health care; children/adolescents; no geographical restriction · Model validation studies
    No meta-analysis. Per-model LR+ (Table 2) across the 9 validation studies (31 coronal models) ranged roughly 0.78-5.53 (e.g. Beck 1.62-3.00, Christian/CAMBRA 1.09-1.14, Gao 2013 CAT ~1.03 to NUS-CRA 5.31, Campus 5.53,…
    9 studies
    GRADE not reported
  • Multivariable prediction models of caries increment: a systematic review and critical appraisal. 2023 All outcomes
    Follow-up >=1 year (included studies 1-5 years) · Oral health care; children/adolescents; no geographical restriction (11 countries across all studies) · Model development studies
    No meta-analysis (heterogeneity precluded pooling); performance given per model as LR+ recalculated by the review authors (Table 2). Across the 8 development studies (23 coronal models) LR+ spanned roughly 1.31-10.26…
    8 studies
    GRADE not reported

Ongoing BBTD Prevention Program vs BBTD Prevention Program discontinued in 1989

Baby bottle tooth decay prevalence · Alaska Native and American Indian Head Start children

Sites discontinuing the prevention program had a non-significant 15% reduction in tooth decay rate, without a GRADE rating.

2 findings from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Dental caries prevalence · Children (<18 years) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in India

Dental caries affects about 64% of children with IDD in India (pooled prevalence 0.64, 95% CI 0.45-0.79; high heterogeneity; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Periodontal disease prevalence · Children (<18 years) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in India

In the single study reporting it, periodontal disease prevalence was 54.2% (single study; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Early childhood caries (ECC) · Children younger than 71 months (under 6 years)

Pooled ECC prevalence in Europe was 36% (95% CI 25-47).

16 findings from 1 review
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Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Regular toothbrushing usage (prevalence) · Children (<18 years) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in India

About 91% of children with IDD in India use a toothbrush regularly (pooled prevalence 0.91, 95% CI 0.80-0.96; high heterogeneity; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence)

Poor (inadequate) oral hygiene (prevalence) · Children (<18 years) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in India

Poor oral hygiene affects about 38% of children with IDD in India (pooled prevalence 0.38, 95% CI 0.21-0.59; high heterogeneity; ungraded).

1 finding from 1 review

Genome-wide common variants (additive dosage; present-study GWAS) vs Genome-wide significance threshold (P<5E-8)

Periodontal disease - genome-wide-significant loci (present study) · Japanese adults (present-study cohort)

The present Japanese GWAS found no genome-wide-significant loci for periodontal disease (top suggestive rs12624579/SYNDIG1); ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies two novel loci associated with dental caries. 2024 All outcomes
    Lifelong (germline genotype) · Population-based genetic association study (Japanese direct-to-consumer genetic testing cohort) · Present-study GWAS (Japanese)
    In the present Japanese GWAS, no loci reached genome-wide significance for periodontal disease; several loci reached the suggestive level (P<1E-5). Top-associated variant rs12624579 (SYNDIG1 intron).
    1 study · 45525 participants
    GRADE not reported

Genetically predicted gene expression (TWAS; S-PrediXcan with GTEx v8 cis-eQTL across 49 tissues; cross-tissue S-MultiXcan) vs ECC-unaffected children (association of genetically predicted expression)

Early childhood caries (ECC) - association with genetically predicted expression of TAS2R43 (chr12p13.2) · Children up to age 5-6 years (European / European non-Hispanic ancestry); 843 ECC-affected vs 2124 unaffected across 5 cohorts (N=2974)

Genetically predicted expression of TAS2R43 was significantly associated with ECC in the TWAS (p = 8.78e-8); genetic association, ungraded.

1 finding from 1 review