Non-Cochrane · umbrella · PM41267395
Fluoride Varnish for Caries Prevention in Preschoolers: An Overview of Reviews.
Couto Flávia Macedo, Sousa Fernanda Santos de Oliveira, Dhyppolito Izabel Monteiro, et al. · Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2026 · PubMed · doi:10.1111/cdoe.70032
Findings
Population Preschoolers (children up to 71 months of age)
30 findings
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) | RR 0.88 [0.81, 0.95] -47 [-74, -19] per 1000 children Low Downgraded: risk of bias, publication bias 16 studies · 9373 participants |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) | RR 0.81 [0.62, 1.06] Moderate 5 studies |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) | OR 0.63 [0.48, 0.81] Low 5 studies |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Caries increment, dmfs (surface level) Nearest to 3 years | Prevented Fraction 0.37 [0.24, 0.51] Moderate Downgraded: risk of bias, inconsistency 10 studies · 3804 participants |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Incidence of early childhood caries | Prevented Fraction 18 Low 3 studies |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Caries increment, dmft (tooth level) | Prevented Fraction 31.13 [21.08, 41.18] Low Downgraded: risk of bias, publication bias 12 studies |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Caries increment, dmfs (surface level) | Prevented Fraction 24.15 [12.91, 35.38] Low Downgraded: risk of bias, publication bias 12 studies |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Caries increment in the primary dentition | SMD -0.19 [-0.39, 0.02] Very low 7 studies |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Caries increment, dmfs (surface level) | MD -0.77 [-1.23, -0.31] Low Downgraded: risk of bias, publication bias Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Caries increment, dmft (tooth level) | MD -0.30 [-0.69, 0.09] Low Downgraded: risk of bias, publication bias Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo, usual care or no intervention (all comparators combined) | Caries increment, dmft (tooth level) | Prevented Fraction 0.65 [0.48, 0.82] Moderate 2 studies |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) FV vs placebo | RR 0.86 [0.72, 1.03] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo | Caries increment, dmft (tooth level) FV vs placebo | Prevented Fraction 33.73 [22.78, 44.68] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Placebo | Caries increment, dmfs (surface level) FV vs placebo | Prevented Fraction 30.49 [8.01, 52.96] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Usual care | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) FV vs usual care | RR 0.84 [0.72, 0.98] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | Usual care | Caries increment, dmfs (surface level) FV vs usual care | Prevented Fraction -33.33 [-105.56, 14.52] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | No intervention | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) FV vs no intervention | RR 0.85 [0.73, 0.98] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | No intervention | Caries increment, dmfs (surface level) FV vs no intervention | Prevented Fraction 23.70 [7.86, 39.55] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Fluoride varnish (FV) | No intervention | Caries increment, dmft (tooth level) FV vs no intervention | Prevented Fraction 17.07 [-12.49, 38.42] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| FV plus oral health advice, community health promotion and 500 ppm F toothpaste | No intervention | Caries increment, dmfs (surface level) FV with oral health program vs no intervention | Prevented Fraction 23.96 [8.42, 37.47] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| FV plus oral health advice, community health promotion and 500 ppm F toothpaste | No intervention | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) FV with oral health program vs no intervention | RR 1.00 [0.94, 1.06] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| FV plus oral health advice and 1450 ppm F toothpaste | Oral health advice | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) FV with oral health advice and toothpaste vs oral health advice | RR 0.87 [0.75, 1.02] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| FV plus oral health advice | Oral health advice | Caries increment, dmft (tooth level) FV with oral health advice vs oral health advice | Prevented Fraction 28.57 [-365.42, 106.77] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| FV as adjunct to regular fluoride toothpaste (>=1000 ppm) | Regular fluoride toothpaste alone | Proportion of children with new caries (caries incidence) | RR 0.91 [0.80, 1.05] Moderate Downgraded: imprecision Studies not reported |
| FV as adjunct to regular fluoride toothpaste (>=1000 ppm) | Regular fluoride toothpaste alone | Caries increment in the primary dentition | Pooled estimate (continuous) -0.17 [-0.60, 0.26] Moderate Downgraded: imprecision 6 studies |
| FV as adjunct to regular fluoride toothpaste (>=1000 ppm) | Regular fluoride toothpaste alone | Changes in prevalence of caries (prevalence at follow-up minus prevalence at baseline) | RR 0.89 [0.78, 1.01] Low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision Studies not reported |
| 5% NaF varnish applied every 6 months | Control (placebo or no intervention) | Caries increment in the primary dentition | Mean effect size -1.56 [-2.7, -0.41] Low 11 studies |
| 5% NaF varnish applied once per year | Control (placebo or no intervention) | Caries increment in the primary dentition | Mean effect size -1.53 [-3.99, 0.93] Moderate 1 study |
| 0.9% difluorosilane varnish applied every 3 months | Control (placebo or no intervention) | Caries increment in the primary dentition | Mean effect size -5.10 [-8.45, -1.75] Low 1 study |
| 0.9% difluorosilane varnish applied every 6 months | Control (placebo or no intervention) | Caries increment in the primary dentition | Mean effect size -0.10 [-2.99, 2.79] Moderate 1 study |
Included primary studies 14
Open in Studies| Study | Year | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| He 2023 Clinical interventions with various agents to prevent early childhood caries: A systematic review with network meta-analysis. PMID:36718540 | 2023 | 1 other review | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Azarpazhooh 2008 Fluoride varnish in the prevention of dental caries in children and adolescents: a systematic review. PMID:18298889 | 2008 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Bader 2001 A systematic review of selected caries prevention and management methods. PMID:11784283 | 2001 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Carvalho 2010 Fluoride varnishes and decrease in caries incidence in preschool children: a systematic review. PMID:20683562 | 2010 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Manchanda 2021 Topical fluoride to prevent early childhood caries: Systematic review with network meta-analysis. PMID:34780874 | 2022 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Marinho 2013 Fluoride varnishes for preventing dental caries in children and adolescents. PMID:23846772 | 2013 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Mishra 2017 Role of fluoride varnish in preventing early childhood caries: A systematic review. PMID:28702057 | 2017 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Munteanu 2022 matched by author and year (probable) | NR | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Petersson 2004 Professional fluoride varnish treatment for caries control: a systematic review of clinical trials. PMID:15370638 | 2004 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Rozier 2001 Effectiveness of methods used by dental professionals for the primary prevention of dental caries. PMID:11699978 | 2001 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Rup 2023 Caries incidence after professional fluoride treatment: a systematic review DOI:10.22456/2177-0018.127960 | 2023 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Sousa 2019 Fluoride Varnish and Dental Caries in Preschoolers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PMID:31220835 | 2019 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Twetman 2015 Evidence of Effectiveness of Current Therapies to Prevent and Treat Early Childhood Caries. PMID:26063553 | 2015 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Yu 2021 The additional benefit of professional fluoride application for children as an adjunct to regular fluoride toothpaste: a systematic review… PMID:33782769 | 2021 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
Overlap with other reviews
Reviews that include the same primary studies are not independent evidence. Shared counts match studies by PMID, DOI or NCT, and otherwise by author and year (a probable match). Only the non-Cochrane dental reviews have study lists, so overlap with Cochrane reviews is not counted yet.
| Review | Shared studies | Jaccard |
|---|---|---|
| The effects of probiotics intervention on oral health outcomes: a comprehensive umbrella review of meta-analyses. (2026) | 1 | 0.04 |
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Preschoolers (children up to 71 months of age) | Preschoolers; 14 systematic reviews (2001 to 2023) including 55 primary studies |
| Intervention | Fluoride varnish for caries prevention, regardless of fluoride concentration, agent, application frequency or brand | Fluoride varnish (mostly 5% sodium fluoride; 0.9% difluorosilane in some) |
| Comparison | Placebo, standard care or no intervention | Placebo, usual care, no intervention, oral health advice or regular fluoride toothpaste alone |
| Outcomes | Primary: caries lesions at dentin level in the primary dentition (any index). Secondary: adverse effects, costs | Caries incidence and increment (dmfs, dmft, prevented fraction); adverse effects and costs described narratively |
| Study designs | Systematic reviews with or without meta-analysis of randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials | 14 systematic reviews (5 with meta-analysis including 2 network meta-analyses) |
| Timing | Not specified | Not specified |