Non-Cochrane · intervention · PM42808713
The Effectiveness of Topical Fluorides in Preventing Dental Caries in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Shao Meijia, Shen Qinfen, Zhao Wenjun · Oral health & preventive dentistry · 2026 · PubMed · doi:10.3290/j.ohpd.c_2826
Findings
21 findings
| Population | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children and adolescents aged 3-15 years at high caries risk (baseline DMFS >= 3) | Topical fluoride (mouth rinse, toothpaste, gel, foam or varnish) | Placebo, no intervention, or non-fluoride preventive measure | Caries incidence (children developing dental caries) 10 months to 3 years · Not specified · Short-term intervention (< 18 months) | OR 0.56 [0.42, 0.74] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence High frequency (≥2 times/week) | OR 0.45 [0.33, 0.61] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | SIC change | MD -0.85 [-1.66, -0.05] GRADE not reported 5 studies · 330 participants |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence | OR 0.27 [0.21, 0.36] GRADE not reported 10 studies · 1122 participants |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence Long duration (≥18 months) | OR 0.39 [0.28, 0.54] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Prevented DMFS increment | MD 0.35 [0.07, 0.63] GRADE not reported 6 studies · 460 participants |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence Adolescents aged 10–19 years | OR 0.6 [0.46, 0.79] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Adverse events | no estimate extracted GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence Low frequency (<2 times/week) | OR 0.62 [0.48, 0.8] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence Children aged 3–10 years | OR 0.48 [0.34, 0.68] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Sodium fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence Sodium fluoride | OR 0.47 [0.35, 0.62] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Monofluorophosphate | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence Monofluorophosphate | OR 0.55 [0.41, 0.74] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Placebo or no intervention | Dental caries incidence Placebo or no intervention | OR 0.49 [0.38, 0.64] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | Topical fluoride | Active control | Dental caries incidence Active control | OR 0.58 [0.42, 0.8] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | 0.2% topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence 0.2% | OR 0.24 [0.18, 0.32] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | 0.2% topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Prevented DMFS increment 0.2% | MD 0.4 [0.1, 0.7] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | 0.2% topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | SIC change 0.2% | MD -1 [-1.8, -0.2] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | 0.05% topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Prevented DMFS increment 0.05% | MD 0.3 [0.05, 0.55] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | 0.05% topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | Dental caries incidence 0.05% | OR 0.29 [0.21, 0.38] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children and adolescents aged 3–15 years at high caries risk | 0.05% topical fluoride | Placebo, no intervention or other preventive measures | SIC change 0.05% | MD -0.8 [-1.6, 0] GRADE not reported Studies not reported |
| Children aged 3–6 years | 5% sodium fluoride varnish at baseline, 3 and 6 months | Delayed varnish at 3 and 6 months | dmft 6 months | no estimate extracted GRADE not reported 1 study |
Included primary studies 10
Open in Studies| Study | Year | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koopman 2015 The Effect of Fixed Orthodontic Appliances and Fluoride Mouthwash on the Oral Microbiome of Adolescents - A Randomized Controlled Clinical… PMID:26332408 | 2015 | 1 other review | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Aminabadi 2007 The Effect of 0.2% Sodium Fluoride Mouthwash in Prevention of Dental Caries According to the DMFT Index. PMID:23277837 | 2007 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Bidwell 2018 Fluoride mouthrinses for preventing dental caries in children and adolescents. PMID:28944499 | 2018 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Gedam 2022 Efficacy of Probiotic, Chlorhexidine, and Sodium Fluoride Mouthrinses on Mutans Streptococci in 8- to 12-Year-Old Children: A Crossover… PMID:35021171 | 2022 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Jagan 2015 matched by author and year (probable) | NR | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| James 2010 The caries-preventive effect of chlorhexidine varnish in children and adolescents: a systematic review. PMID:20606432 | 2010 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Marinho 2016 Fluoride mouthrinses for preventing dental caries in children and adolescents. PMID:27472005 | 2016 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Miller 2012 Topical fluoride for preventing dental caries in children and adolescents. PMID:22632397 | 2012 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Mohammadi 2015 Fluoride varnish effect on preventing dental caries in a sample of 3-6 years old children. PMID:25709364 | 2015 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Shahid 2017 Regular supervised fluoride mouthrinse use by children and adolescents associated with caries reduction. PMID:28338040 | 2017 | 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 efficacy of mouthwashes on oral microorganisms and gingivitis in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment: a systematic review and… (2023) | 1 | 0.02 |
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Children aged 3-15 years at high caries risk (baseline DMFS >= 3) | Children aged 3-15 years; total sample 10,302 (n=10) |
| Intervention | Topical fluoride (mouth rinse, toothpaste, gel, foam or varnish); single fluoride type | Topical fluoride: NaF mouthrinse 0.02%-0.2%, fluoride toothpaste, 5% NaF varnish, NH4HF2/NaF rinse (n=10) |
| Comparison | Placebo; no intervention; non-fluoride preventive measure (oral hygiene instruction, dietary counselling, non-fluoride sealants) | Placebo/no treatment (n=8); active control (n=1); delayed varnish (n=1) |
| Outcomes | New caries incidence/caries rates; DMFS change; SIC (surface area of initial caries) change; safety outcomes (fluorosis, GI symptoms, taste disturbance, staining, mucosal irritation, allergy, withdrawals due to adverse events) | Caries incidence (n=10); DMFS change (n=6); SIC change (n=5); 5% NaF varnish dmft summarized narratively (n=1); safety narrative only |
| Study designs | RCTs or controlled clinical intervention studies; sample size >= 150; dropout <= 20% | RCTs (n=10) |
| Timing | Not specified | Treatment duration 10 months to 3 years |
AMSTAR 2 items
Two independent extractors rated each item. Their ratings are shown side by side because they have not been reconciled yet. The overall rating follows Shea et al. 2017: one critical flaw gives Low, more than one gives Critically Low.
| Item | Extractor A | Extractor B | Agree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Research question includes PICO components | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 2Protocol established before the reviewcritical | No | No | yes |
| 3Choice of study designs explained | No | No | yes |
| 4Comprehensive literature searchcritical | No | Partial Yes | no |
| 5Study selection in duplicate | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 6Data extraction in duplicate | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 7List of excluded studies with reasonscritical | No | No | yes |
| 8Included studies described in detail | Partial Yes | Partial Yes | yes |
| 9Risk of bias assessed satisfactorilycritical | RCT: Yes · NRSI: N/A | NRSI: N/A · RCT: Partial Yes | no |
| 10Funding of included studies reported | No | No | yes |
| 11Appropriate meta-analysis methodscritical | RCT: No · NRSI: N/A | NRSI: N/A · RCT: Yes | no |
| 12Impact of risk of bias on the pooled results | No | No | yes |
| 13Risk of bias accounted for in interpretationcritical | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 14Heterogeneity explained | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 15Publication bias investigatedcritical | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 16Conflicts of interest reported | No | No | yes |
| Overall | Critically Low | Critically Low | yes |