| aar | Authors | Title | Source | Topics | abstract | pubmedtext | fulltext |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Newbrun E | Topical fluorides in caries prevention and management: a North American perspective | J Dent Educ 2001; 65(10): 1078-83 | Fluoride | |||
| 2001 | Strohmenger L, Brambilla E | The use of fluoride varnishes in the prevention of dental caries: a short review. | Oral Dis 2001; 7(2): 71-80 | Fluoride: therapy | OBJECTIVES: To review the current literature regarding the anti-caries efficacy of fluoride varnishes. To analyse a series of studies designed to detect the caries preventive efficacy of fluoride varnishes by means of meta-analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Current literature on fluoride varnishes has been reviewed. An evaluation of the results of the available in vitro, animal and human studies on the anti-caries efficacy of these preventive agents was performed. A systematic literature search and a meta-analysis were also performed to assess the caries preventive effects of fluoride varnishes. The purpose of this analysis was to calculate the overall preventive efficacy of clinical fluoride varnishes treatment studies, based on defined methodological criteria. RESULTS: The efficacy of fluoride varnishes in caries prevention is clearly demonstrated in several experimental studies. Clinical trials show caries incidence reduction ranging approximately from 18% to 70%. Nevertheless, available studies show a high degree of heterogeneity and only three were found to meet a series of defined methodological criteria. All the three studies were based on a comparison between 0.2% NaF rinses and a fluoride varnish. The meta-analysis showed no significant differences between the two treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Available data suggest that fluoride varnishes are a useful tool in caries prevention. One may conclude that fluoride varnishes, when applied regularly, demonstrate good caries preventive properties. | Medline | |
| 2001 | Bartizek RD, Gerlach RW, Faller RV, Jacobs SA, Bollmer BW, Biesbrock AR | Reduction in dental caries with four concentrations of sodium fluoride in a dentifrice: a meta-analysis evaluation. | J Clin Dent 2001; 12(3): 57-62 | Fluoride: therapy | Information on the effects of fluoride concentrations above 1,100 ppm in dentifrices is not extensive in the literature. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine and compare the anticaries effectiveness (in terms of DMFS scores) of 1,700 ppm, 2,200 ppm and 2,800 ppm F- ion (as sodium fluoride) dentifrices vs. an 1,100 ppm F- ion (as sodium fluoride) control dentifrice based on results from six double-blind, randomized clinical studies, each conducted over a two- to three-year period. The studies each enrolled approximately 1,200-2,000 male and female school children per treatment group in grades I through 8, and were conducted in areas with low fluoride content water supplies in the states of Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Oregon. Separate meta-analyses were performed on the study results (DMFS increment scores determined by visual-tactile examinations supplemented with radiographs) for the one-year, two-year and three-year examinations. Comparisons of the 1,700 ppm F-, 2,200 ppm F-, and 2,800 ppm F- groups vs. the 1,100 ppm F- group were based on pooling the effect sizes for these comparisons from the individual studies. The effect sizes were calculated in two different ways, reflecting the analyses that were performed in the original studies: 1) effects based on the sample means and variances; and 2) effects based on the adjusted sample means and mean squared error from an analysis of covariance. The results obtained from this meta-analysis provide evidence that the use of a 2,800 ppm F- ion, as sodium fluoride, dentifrice results in statistically significantly lower caries increment than the use of an 1,100 ppm F- ion, as sodium fluoride, dentifrice. This result was noted after one, two, and three years of dentifrice use. The 1,700 ppm F- and 2,200 ppm F- dentifrice groups showed some directional advantages over the 1,100 ppm F- dentifrice group, however the analysis did not establish these groups as statistically significantly better than 1,100 ppm F-. The meta-analysis based on analysis of covariance results was somewhat more sensitive to treatment group differences than the analysis based on sample means and variances, as was expected. | Medline | |
| 2001 | Treasure ET | Methods of stopping or reversing early carious lesions fluoride: a European perspective. | J Dent Educ 2001; 65(10): 1073-7 | Fluoride: therapy | The purpose of this review was to discuss the findings of the systematic review of the management of the early carious lesion with fluoride from a European perspective. The review was checked, and the overall finding that the evidence was incomplete was confirmed. It was suggested that the reason that few data were available was that clinical trials had not been designed to answer this question and that the baseline of healthy teeth and surfaces with very early lesions were rarely quantified. The European perspective would want to identify a clinical method that could manage these lesions better than the home use of fluoride toothpaste. Future research was recommended in the form of several systematic reviews and re-analysis of existing data. Only then could further studies be recommended. In modern European dentistry, restoring these lesions is not an option. | Medline | |
| 2000 | Clarkson JJ, McLoughlin J | Role of fluoride in oral health promotion | Int Dent J 2000; 50(3): 119-28 | Fluoride: therapy | |||
| 2000 | Mascarenhas AK | Risk factors for dental fluorosis: a review of the recent literature. | Pediatr Dent 2000; 22(4): 269-77 | Fluoride: safety | The decline in dental caries prevalence and incidence in developed countries over the last two decades is considered to be largely due to the widespread use of fluoride. Simultaneously, with the decline in caries, an increase in the prevalence of dental fluorosis has been noticed. The increase is in the mild and very mild forms of fluorosis, and is proportionally greater in non-fluoridated areas than in fluoridated areas. This is because of the increase in the mean fluoride intake from all sources since the 1940s. The increase in fluorosis prevalence prompted numerous studies on risk factors for fluorosis. As a result the literature over the last two decades has also reported numerous studies with differing and confusing results. This paper describes for the clinician the condition and summarizes the recent literature on the risk factors for fluorosis. Only well conducted studies evaluating risk factors or indicators and quantifying the risk for dental fluorosis from the 1980s through the 1990s time period were included in this review. Four major risk factors were consistently identified: use of fluoridated drinking water, fluoride supplements, fluoride toothpaste, and infant formulas before the age of six years. | Medline | |
| 1999 | Beiswanger BB, Stookey G K | The comparative clinical cariostatic efficacy of sodium fluoride and sodium monofluorophosphate dentifrices: a review of trials |
J Dentistry Children 1989; 56(5): 337-47 | Fluoride: therapy | This report reviews the methods and findings of published clinical studies comparing dentifrices containing sodium fluoride (NaF) and sodium monofluorophosphate (Na2PO3F) for the purpose of determining whether sodium fluoride formulations have superior cariostatic effects. Nine of ten reported trials found a numerical advantage for sodium fluoride dentifrices with highly compatible abrasive systems and the hypothesis that these two fluoride agents have equivalent cariostatic effects is rejected (p = 0.011). Therefore, the collective clinical evidence demonstrates that dentifrices containing NaF have greater cariostatic effectiveness than dentifrices containing Na2PO3F. | Medline | |
| 1999 | Ismail AT, Bandekar RE | Fluoride supplements and fluorosis: a meta-analysis. | Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1999; 27: 48-56 | Fluoride: safety | This paper presents a systematic review of the dental literature that was carried out to investigate whether the regular use of fluoride supplements in non-fluoridated communities during the period of tooth development increases the risk of dental fluorosis. A MEDLINE search was organized for all documents published, in English, between January 1966 and September 1997 using the following key words: fluorosis, dental, fluoride, fluoride supplement or supplements, drop or drops, and tablet or tablets. Twenty-four studies that assessed the development of dental fluorosis in children who had used fluoride supplements earlier in their life were included in this review. Of the 24 studies, 10 were cross-sectional/case control studies and four were follow-up studies. These studies had data that allowed a quantitative estimation of the risk of developing dental fluorosis in users of fluoride supplements. The other 10 studies were excluded because they either did not present enough data or had other methodological problems. A qualitative review of the studies found a consistent and strong association between the use of fluoride supplements and dental fluorosis. The meta-analyses of the cross-sectional/case-control studies estimated that the odds ratio of dental fluorosis in users of fluoride supplements compared with non-users ranged between 2.4 and 2.6. The meta-analyses of the follow-up studies estimated that the relative risk in long-term users was between 5.5 and 12.2. This review confirmed that in non-fluoridated communities the use of fluoride supplements during the first 6 years of life is associated with a significant increase in the risk of developing dental fluorosis. | Medline | |
| 1999 | Bardsen A | "Risk periods" associated with the development of dental fluorosis inmaxillary permanent central incisors: a meta-analysis | Acta Odontol Scand 1999; 57: 247-56 | fluoride | Medline | ||
| 1998 | van Rijkom HM, Truin GJ, van 't Hof MA | A meta-analysis of clinical studies on the caries-inhibiting effect of fluoride gel treatment. | Caries Res 1998; 32(2): 83-92 | Fluoride: therapy | A meta-analysis was performed on published data on the caries-inhibiting effect of fluoride gel treatment in 6- to 15-year-old children. The purposes of this meta-analysis were: (1) to calculate the overall caries-inhibiting effect of clinical fluoride gel treatment studies, based on explicit selection criteria, and (2) to explore factors potentially modifying the effect of fluoride gel treatment in caries prevention, concerning the baseline caries prevalence of the target population, the general fluoride regimen, and application features. The caries-inhibiting effect of fluoride gel application was assessed by the prevented fraction and the 'number needed to treat'. The overall prevented fraction of the fluoride gel treatment studies, indicating the reduction of caries incidence by fluoride gel treatment relative to the incidence in the control group, was 22% (95% CI = 18-25%). Multiple regression analysis showed no significant influence on the prevented fractions for the variables 'baseline caries prevalence', 'general fluoride regimen', 'application method', and 'application frequency'. The 'number needed to treat' (NNT), indicating the number of patients that need to be treated in order to prevent 1 DMFS, estimated the efficiency of fluoride gel treatment according to the caries incidence of the target population, including cost/effect relations. It was found that the NNT = 18 in a population with caries incidence 0.25 DMFS per year, and NNT = 3 in a population with caries incidence = 1.5 DMFS per year (treatment duration 1 year). From the standpoint of cost-effectiveness, the additional effect of fluoride gel treatment in current low and even moderate caries incidence child populations must be questioned. | Medline | |
| 1994 | Helfenstein U, Steiner M | Fluoride varnishes (Duraphat): a meta-analysis. | Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1994; 22(1): 1-5 | Fluoride: therapy | In the present article we analyze a series of studies designed to detect the caries preventive effect of Duraphat by means of meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is a collection of statistical methods designed to investigate and to summarize a series of investigations. It may be a valuable tool to complement traditional narrative reviews. During the last years meta-analysis has attracted increasing interest in sociology, psychology and medicine. In order to find previous studies concerned with the clinical effects of Duraphat we applied a systematic literature search. Papers were included independent of results when they fulfilled a checklist of well defined methodological selection criteria. In order to aggregate the results of the Duraphat-studies we used different complementary statistical approaches: Firstly, the so-called file drawer problem is considered. This may help to get a better insight into the problem of underreporting non-significant results or publication bias. It was found to be very unlikely that underreporting of non-significant results could reverse the conclusion into an overall null-result. After that, the inhomogeneity between studies is investigated. The overall variation of caries reduction R is separated into two components: A between study component of variance and a variance pertaining to the individual studies (random effects model). It was found that the overall variation is dominated by the between studies variation and not by the sampling variation. Due to the pronounced variation between studies the confidence interval of the overall effect size (R = 0.38) is quite large (95%-Cl: 0.19-0.57). | Medline | |
| 1993 | Volpe AR, Petrone ME, Davies RM | A critical review of the 10 pivotal caries clinical studies used in a recent meta-analysis comparing the anticaries efficacy of sodium fluoride and sodium monofluorophosphate dentifrices. | Am J Dent 1993; 6 Spec No: S13-42 | Fluoride: therapy | The 10 pivotal caries clinical studies employed in a recent meta-analysis to compare the anticaries efficacy of sodium fluoride (NaF) and sodium monofluorophosphate (MFP) dentifrices were subjected to a critical review. When reporting the meta-analysis, the author (Johnson) considered these 10 pivotal caries clinical studies as "head-to-head" comparisons of NaF and MFP dentifrices. For the most part, it is difficult to find any common denominator among these 10 caries clinical studies since there were so many diverse factors associated with them. The 10 pivotal studies were conducted over a 20-year period of time in many different geographic areas of the world, using different protocols and study designs, different clinical examiners and caries assessment criteria, as well as evaluating commercially outdated or specially formulated dentifrices. Any attempt to integrate the results from these 10 studies is further complicated by the diversity of statistical methodology used to evaluate the results obtained from the studies. Also, in two of the 10 studies, the comparison of the fluoride dentifrices was obscured by the fact that the participating children used a fluoride mouthrinse during the course of the study. In any case, when all relevant dentifrice comparisons are made, the results of a critical review of the 10 pivotal ("head-to-head") caries clinical studies indicate the following: (1) In three of the studies (Gerdin/Zacherl/Forsman), depending upon how the data is viewed, it can either be shown that NaF dentifrices are favored over MFP dentifrices or that MFP dentifrices are favored over NaF dentifrices. (2) In one of the studies (Edward & Torell), the results are published only in abstract form and a full report of the study is not available. (3) In one of the studies (Koch, Petersson, Kling & Kling) it is reported that MFP dentifrices are favored over NaF dentifrices. (4) In two of the studies (Edlund & Koch, Koch et al) it is reported that NaF dentifrices are favored over MFP dentifrices. However, in both of these studies, there were serious imbalances in baseline caries status favoring the NaF dentifrice groups over the MFP dentifrice groups. In other words, the children using the MFP dentifrices were more prone to caries formation during the course of these studies than the children using the NaF dentifrices. Further, in these two studies there is a serious question regarding the soluble fluoride level of the commercially available MFP dentifrice that was used | Medline | |
| 1993 | Holloway PJ, Worthington HV | Sodium fluoride or sodium monofluorophosphate? A critical view of a meta-analysis on their relative effectiveness in dentifrices. | Am J Dent 1993; 6 Spec No: S55-8 | Fluoride: therapy | A detailed examination of nine publications used in a meta-analysis to compare the relative effectiveness of sodium fluoride and sodium monofluorophosphate in dentifrices showed important flaws in the process. Some studies were inappropriately chosen. Other selected comparisons between the two compounds favored sodium fluoride when more appropriate comparisons in the same studies, showing either an advantage for sodium monofluorophosphate or a lesser advantage to sodium fluoride, were ignored. Some simple errors also appear to have been made when taking data from the publications. When all these factors are taken into account it seems that three studies favor sodium monofluorophosphate, two favor sodium fluoride and the remaining five either could not or should not be included in a meta-analysis. The only two scientifically conceived and conducted studies failed to demonstrate an advantage of one compound over the other. | Medline | |
| 1990 | Stookey GK | Critical evaluation of the composition and use of topical fluorides | J Dent Res 1990; 69 Spec No: 805-12 | Fluoride: therapy | |||
| 1990 | Thylstrup A | Clinical evidence of the role of pre-eruptive fluoride in caries prevention | J Dent Res 1990; 69 Spec No: 742-50 | Fluoride: therapy |