Flink 2006.

Methods	Design: randomised controlled trial Randomisation: individual Trial: daily oral iron versus placebo Date of study: not stated
Participants	Setting: patients attending public dental clinic in Sala, Sweden Malaria endemicity: not stated. Included: unstimulated salivary flow rate of < 0.2 ml/min; ferritin > 10 ng/mL and < 30 mg/mL (females), < 50 mg/mL (males). Of 50 participants recruited, 46 were female. Age range 16 years to 46 years (mean age 34 years) Excluded: not stated Dropouts: 3 of 50 participants failed to complete trial (group unstated) Sample size: total: 47; intervention: 24, control: 23
Interventions	Intervention: elemental iron (approximately 40 mg) as ferrous fumarate daily Control: placebo Duration: 3 months
Outcomes	Iron status
Notes	Compliance: mean compliance during the intervention period was 82% (95% CI 76 to 90) for the placebo group and 71% (95% CI 61 to 82) for the iron group (i.e. resulting in an average daily dose of 85 mg of iron). There was no significant difference in compliance between intervention compared to control groups Conflicts of interest: not stated Funded by: grants from Vastmanland County, Sweden, the Swedish Patent Revenue Research Fund and the Swedish Dental Society
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Computer random number generator
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Identical containers, identity in numbered envelopes and not revealed until end of study
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Placebo administered
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Not reported. However, biochemical measures unlikely to be affected by knowledge of allocation
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Loss to follow‐up: 1 in iron arm, 2 in placebo arm
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Not evident
Other bias	Low risk	Not evident