ArticleOral health & preventive dentistry2026
The Reciprocal Risk Relationship of Dental Caries with NAFLD and Liver Fibrosis: Combined Evidence from the NHANES Study and Mendelian Randomization Analysis.
Article in Oral health & preventive dentistry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo explore the relationship between dental caries and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its advanced stage of liver fibrosis, and to confirm causality by employing a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis to confirm causality. MATERIALS AND
methods6650 participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2017-2020 were included. Two multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between untreated dental caries (UDC) and liver conditions of NAFLD and fibrosis, with adjustments for demographics, lifestyle, and medical history. Furthermore, two-sample MR was performed with caries as exposure and NAFLD with NAFLD-related conditions as outcome, and vice versa for bidirectional causality validation.
resultsIn observational research, UDC was notably associated with NAFLD (OR [odds ratio]: 1.40, 95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.06-1.86) and significant fibrosis (SF) (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03-1.62). NAFLD and SF were statistically significantly associated with UDC (OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.08-1.83; OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.26-2.08). In the MR analysis, caries posed a statistically non-significant risk for liver conditions. In contrast, liver conditions non-significantly protected against caries (NAFLD: OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98-1.01; fibrosis: OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99-1.00; cirrhosis: OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99-1.00; fibrosis/cirrhosis: OR: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.98-1.02).
conclusionObservational studies suggested a statistically significant association between UDC and liver conditions of NAFLD and fibrosis. However, MR suggested a statistically non-significant causal relationship between caries and liver conditions; in contrast, liver conditions had a non-significant protective effect on caries.
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.