SynthesisClinical oral investigations2021
The additional benefit of professional fluoride application for children as an adjunct to regular fluoride toothpaste: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Clinical oral investigations, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevention of white spot lesions with fluoride varnish during orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances: a systematic review.European journal of orthodontics · 2023Pooled it
- The effectiveness of topical fluoride agents on preventing development of approximal caries in primary teeth: a randomized clinical trial.BMC oral health · 2023Trial
- Cost-Effectiveness of Applying Fluoride Varnish to Preschoolers in a Brazilian Scenario: An Economic Modelling Study.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2026Article
- Fluoride Varnish for Caries Prevention in Preschoolers: An Overview of Reviews.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2026Review
- Impact of Different Regimens of Fluoridated Dentifrice Application on the pH and Inorganic Composition in an Oral Microcosm Biofilm Model.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Assessment of Trends in Non-Restorative and Preventative Dental Treatment Pre- and Post-COVID-19: A Health Informatics Pilot Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo assess whether professional fluoride application (PFA) used in addition to regular fluoride toothpaste (RFT, ≥ 1,000 ppm) is more effective than RFT alone in children. MATERIALS AND
methodsA systematic search was conducted using the PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar and CENTRAL databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the effectiveness of RFT + PFA and RFT alone were included. Meta-analyses with random-effects models were performed. The certainty of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach.
resultsA total of 2,729 records were identified from electronic and manual searches, which were screened by two reviewers independently and in duplicate. Six RCTs (5,034 participants) were included, of which four had high risk of bias and two had unclear risk of bias. The PFA used in all these trials was fluoride varnish (FV). In meta-analyses, no significant difference was observed between participants receiving FV + RFT and RFT alone of d(m/e)fs increment (mean difference (MD) - 0.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) - 0.60 to 0.26, P = 0.43, I
conclusionsLow to moderate certainty evidence suggests that FV does not have significant additional caries-preventive benefit for children (under 8 years old) when provided as an adjunct to daily tooth brushing with RFT (≥ 1,000 ppm). There is insufficient evidence regarding the additional benefit of other PFA interventions. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The decision to apply FV to children needs to be made in light of their actual usage of RFT.
trial registrationPROSPERO (CRD42020165270).
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.