Cochrane · intervention · CD007592

Fluoride supplements (tablets, drops, lozenges or chewing gums) for preventing dental caries in children

Tubert‐Jeannin, S, Auclair, C, Amsallem, E, et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2011 · Cochrane Library

Oral Health Dental caries2 versionsAMSTAR 2: not assessed

Full textEvery question was extracted from the full review (methods and results), not only its Summary of Findings table.

Questions

current version

GRADE rated

No studies

Included studies

as reported

No studies 1 · 7.7%Ungraded 4 · 30.8%Very low 3 · 23.1%Low 1 · 7.7%Moderate 4 · 30.8%High 0 · 0%

Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.

Review question

Element	Planned (methods)	Found (results)
Population	Children or adolescents aged 16 or less at the start of the study (irrespective of initial level of dental caries, background exposure to fluorides, dental treatment level, nationality, setting where intervention is received or time when it started)	7196 children (aged 2 to 12 years) in 11 included trials; recruited from school settings in seven studies and from selected dental clinics in four; two trials in high caries-risk children and one in children with cleft lip and/or palate; all in communities without water fluoridation
Intervention	Postnatal ingestion of fluoride supplements in the form of tablets (chewable or not), drops, lozenges or chewing gums: with or without vitamins; using any fluoride agent at any concentration, amount, frequency or technique of application (sucked or not, chewed or not); with or without topical fluoride based measures or non-fluoride based measures	Fluoride supplements: tablets (n=7); drops (n=1); lozenges (n=3); agents sodium fluoride NaF (n=10) and acidulated phosphate fluoride APF (n=3); doses 0.25 to 1 mg F
Comparison	No fluoride supplements: no treatment; placebo supplement (with or without vitamins); topical fluoride based measures (fluoride rinse, topical fluoride application, fluoride varnish or fluoride toothpaste); other preventive measures (chlorhexidine, xylitol, sealants, oral hygiene interventions, etc.)	Placebo supplements (n=3); No treatment (n=2); Fluoride rinse (n=3); Fluoride varnish (n=2); Fluoridated toothpaste (n=1); Xylitol lozenges (n=1)
Outcomes	Primary: change in caries increment measured by difference in decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft/DMFT) or surfaces (dmfs/DMFS) between baseline and final evaluation, for permanent and deciduous dentition. Secondary: differences in final caries experience (final dmft/DMFT or dmfs/DMFS); other measures such as proportion of children developing new caries or changes in caries-free subjects. Adverse effects: dental fluorosis (assessed with a specific index) and any other possible negative effects	Caries increment on permanent tooth surfaces D(M)FS (n=10); Caries increment on deciduous tooth surfaces dmfs (n=4); Caries increment in permanent teeth D(M)FT (n=9); Caries increment in deciduous teeth dmft (n=4); Fluorosis (n=1); Plaque and gingivitis (n=1)
Study designs	Randomised (or quasi-randomised) controlled clinical trials (RCTs), randomisation at the level of the child or of a group (cluster); studies with an intervention or follow-up period of less than 2 years excluded	Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials (11 trials; conducted 1968 to 2008)
Timing	Intervention or follow-up period of at least 2 years	Follow-ups of 24 to 36 months most common (all 11 trials); three trials also reported longer follow-ups (48, 55, 60, 72 and 96 months)

Search date: 2011-10. Databases: The Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register; The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); MEDLINE via Ovid; EMBASE via Ovid; LILACS via BIREME Virtual Health Library; PanAmerican via BIREME Virtual Health Library; WHOLIS via BIREME Virtual Health Library; MedCarib via BIREME…