Table 4.
Determinants of quality | Plaque scores |
---|---|
Study design (Appendix S1) | RCTs crossover designs |
# studies n = 8 | 25 |
# comparison n = 25 (Figure 1) | |
Risk of bias (Appendix S2) | Low |
Consistency (Table 3) | Rather consistent |
Directness (Dentifrice slurry) | Indirect |
Precision (Table 3) | Rather precise |
Publication bias (Appendices S4b/S5b/S6b) | Possible |
Magnitude of the effect | Small |
Strength of the recommendation based on the body of evidence | Moderate |
Direction of recommendation | Weak in favour of the use of dentifrice |