SynthesisEuropean archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry2020
A systematic review of risk assessment tools for early childhood caries: is there evidence?
Synthesis in European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multivariable prediction models of caries increment: a systematic review and critical appraisal.Systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of risk-based caries management among Chinese preschool children: a randomized controlled single-blind trial.BMC oral health · 2024Trial
- Who Gets Dental Caries? A Comprehensive Review.Dentistry journal · 2026Review
- Pilot validation of the new Canadian Caries Risk Assessment Tool for preschoolers.Canadian journal of dental hygiene : CJDH = Journal canadien de l'hygiene dentaire : JCHD · 2026Article
- Predictive validity and cost-effectiveness analysis of two caries risk assessment tools for preschool children.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Validating Caries Risk Assessment Tools in High-Prevalence Filipino Toddlers.International dental journal · 2025Article
- Cariogram-based Comparison of Caries Risk Profile in Preschoolers Before and After Giving Parent-oriented Educational Mobile Messages: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of clinical pediatric dentistry · 2025Article
- Twelve-Year Changes in Pre-Schoolers' Oral Health and Parental Involvement in Children's Dental Care: Results from Two Repeated Cross-Sectional Surveys in Lithuania.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Why Is Caries Prevention in Children So Difficult? A Narrative Opinion.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Integrating oral and social factors in individual caries risk assessments in preschool children-a registry-based study.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2024Article
- Predicting Dental Caries in Young Children in Primary Health Care Settings.Journal of dental research · 2023Article
- A mixed methods approach to obtaining health care provider feedback for the development of a Canadian pediatric dental caries risk assessment tool for children <6 years.Frontiers in oral health · 2023Article
- Caries Prevalence and Severity for 12-Year-Old Children in Latvia.International dental journal · 2021Article
- Improving Caries Risk Prediction Modeling: A Call for Action.Journal of dental research · 2020Article
- In vivo correlation of near-infrared transillumination and visual inspection with bitewing radiography for the detection of interproximal caries in permanent and primary teeth.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo evaluate the accuracy of commonly advocated caries risk assessment (CRA) tools in preschool children and to search for evidence whether or not this process provides better oral care and less caries in the future.
methodsAs an update of a previous systematic review, a search of electronic databases for relevant literature published between 2008 and 2018 was performed with aid of predetermined search strings. We considered only true prospective trials validating baseline risk categories over at least a 12-month period, and extracted the predictive values and assessed the quality of the papers by the QUIPS tool for prospective studies.
resultsSix studies were included, reporting on three manual checklists and two software tools. The National University of Singapore model displayed a good accuracy in two studies, while the accuracy of Cariogram ranged from poor to good in various populations. The manual checklists were only validated in one study each and displayed limited to poor accuracy. No study was identified that addressed questions around the long-term benefits of CRA.
conclusionsThis systematic review showed a relative paucity of prospective trials validating the existing caries risk assessment tools in preschool children and the question whether or not the CRA process results in better oral care remained unanswered. Although the accuracy was far from excellent, we still recommend the CRA tools in paediatric dentistry practice because the desirable effects most likely outweigh the undesirable effects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.