SynthesisBMC oral health2026
Effectiveness of community and primary-care-based maternal oral health interventions on pregnancy and infant outcomes: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC oral health, 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
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of community and primary care based maternal oral health interventions on maternal oral health outcomes, pregnancy outcomes, and infant oral health outcomes. MATERIALS AND
methodsElectronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus, were searched for studies published between 2000 and 2025. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials and non-randomized intervention studies evaluating maternal oral health interventions delivered in antenatal, primary care, or community settings. Primary outcomes were maternal oral health indicators, preterm birth, low birth weight, and early childhood caries at or before 24 months of age. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool for randomized trials and the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions tool for non-randomized studies. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted for selected outcomes.
resultsTwelve studies met inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of randomized trials showed a non-significant reduction in preterm birth (risk ratio 0.80, 95% confidence interval 0.60-1.05) and low birth weight (risk ratio 0.76, 95% confidence interval 0.51-1.13). Pooled analysis of non-randomized controlled studies demonstrated a significant reduction in early childhood caries prevalence (risk ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.59-0.74). Maternal oral health knowledge, behaviours, and clinical indicators consistently improved across studies.
conclusionsCommunity and primary care maternal oral health interventions appear to improve maternal oral health knowledge, behaviours, service utilization, and some clinical oral-health indicators. Evidence for effects on pregnancy outcomes and early childhood caries remains less certain because most included studies were non-randomized and several were at serious or critical risk of bias. According to GRADE considerations, certainty of evidence for several key outcomes was low or very low. Further adequately powered randomized trials are required before firm conclusions can be drawn regarding birth and infant outcomes. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: not applicable.
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.