| MD | Mean difference |
| OR | Odds ratio |
| CI | Confidence interval |
| RCT | Randomized controlled trial |
| SM | Streptococcus mutans |
| CHX | Chlorhexidine |
| ECC | Early childhood caries |
| CFU | Colony-forming units |
| GRADE | Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation |
| I2 | Inconsistency index |
| PRISMA | Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses |
| RoB 2 | Cochrane Risk of Bias tool version |
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