ReviewChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2024
Oral Health and Caries Prevention: How Tongue Hygiene Helps Maintain Balance of Microbiota and Overall Health in Pediatric Patients.
Review in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Holobiontic Intercellular Relationships Between the Oral Cavity and the Rest of the Human Organism: A Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Review
- Evaluation of Salivary Total Oxidant Status (TOS) and Total Antioxidant Status (TAS) in Orthodontic Patients Treated With Clear Aligners vs Conventional Brackets.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Article
- Effect of tongue hygiene instruction on periodontal patients: an experimental study.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Developmental ecology of the infant oral ecosystem: a framework for early childhood caries.Frontiers in oral health · 2026Review
- Knowledge of tongue brushing among school children and their parents, and its effects on children's optimal sugar and salt preferences, dental caries, periodontal diseases, and body mass index.BMC research notes · 2025Article
- Importance of a Healthy Tongue: Could It Be a Reflection of Overall Health in Children?Cureus · 2025Review
- Whitening Efficiency of Papain and Bromelain Gels in Removing Dental Stains.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effects of clear aligners and traditional removable appliances on oral microbiome in mixed dentition: a comparative study.BMC oral health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesThe tongue harbors about two-thirds of the microorganisms present in the mouth; the stable bacterial population consists mainly of aerobic and facultative anaerobic streptococci. These bacterial colonies, found more frequently on the tongue than on the outside of the hard part of the dental enamel in children younger than 18 months, suggest that the tongue is a potential bacterial reservoir. The aim of this review is to examine the scientific literature to clarify whether the mechanical removal of bacterial biofilm on the tongue can have a positive effect on caries prevention, with the reduction in colony-forming unit (CFU) of salivary streptococcus and the whole-mouth plaque index (FMPS).
methodsAn open literature search was conducted by using PubMed (MEDLINE), Cochrane Library and Google Scholar. The most studied age range was 9 to 12 years, with groups of children with no caries and groups with a minimum number of two teeth that were reconstructed, decayed and/or missing (DMFS/dmfs > 2) who experienced different tongue hygiene methods for the first time.
resultsFour randomized trials met the search criteria and were included in this review.
conclusionsThe results obtained suggest that specific tongue hygiene protocols, combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, could be considered the gold standard to enable more effective primary prevention and improve the health of pediatric patients. This review improves the understanding of the impact of tongue hygiene in controlling the bacteria responsible for the onset of carious disease and its systemic correlates; however, further research with more data is needed to further confirm the findings of this research.
Indexed as
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.